Nathan Jenden

LONDON, September 17, 2008
By Tim Blanks
Nathan Jenden's invitation announcing "I Want Candy" in appropriately gaudy colors triggered a distant memory of Bow Wow Wow's cover version of the song of that name. That was back in the eighties, the decade out of which Jenden's intensely toned outfits popped like…well, like candies. One piece looked like it was made of psychedelic cocktail umbrellas (or a Dale Chihuly glass sculpture). A cowl-backed short dress with a shimmer of sequins was disco ready, like the black leather jacket with crystal-encrusted sleeves. A white ruffled blouse paired with a big tie brought Sheena Easton to mind.

Thierry Mugler made for a more upmarket association, in a suit with a pencil skirt and a peplum so stiff it would take your eye out. A bustled jacket with a tight calf-length skirt that flared into a kick-pleat and a second-skin strapless dress with ruffles cascading down the back were a little Thierry, a lot forties starlet…and eighties on top of it all. This sort of de trop sensibility makes the eighties the decade of the moment (again!), according to the latest issue of Pop magazine, so Jenden is on the money there. But unfortunately his collection served more as a reminder that the eighties were also known as the era that taste forgot.

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