Jonathan Saunders has had a busy three and a half months. The Scottish designer moved to New York from London for the newly created chief creative officer role at Diane von Furstenberg, and straight out of the gate he’s shaking things up. Von Furstenberg herself has stepped away from the design room to devote more time to her philanthropic work, among other things. Her new hire’s Spring collection for the label, while recognizably DVF, has his imprint all over it.
Saunders came up during London’s digital-print boom. He made prints a centerpiece of his eponymous collection, which he shuttered after about 12 years in business late last year. He’s also got an exceptional eye for color, often in clashing combinations. He put all that into play in the new lineup. Pointing to his favorite dress at a preview this morning, an on-the-bias, asymmetric confection that combines multiple dot and floral prints, he said, “I made myself dizzy draping this one.” The dress’s asymmetry evokes the ease of Von Fustenberg’s original, iconic 1974 wrap dress, but in a more contemporary way. Saunders used asymmetry throughout the collection: by cutting other frocks and shirts with a fluttery sleeve on one side and a delicate strap on the other; by mixing prints, including a very pretty peony motif; or, in one case, by not extending a print all the way to a dress’s hem—an artful detail that felt unexpected for DVF.
The collection encompasses outerwear, including cotton and leather trenches, the latter with a lavish, detachable fox fur collar, as well as clingy ribbed knits and fancy pants with fold-over waistbands and striped grosgrain ribbon detailing. He said he expects knits to become a more important part of the business: “Knits have a sense of ease that’s right for the brand.” Still, in a way that’s befitting of Von Furstenberg’s legacy, it’s the dresses that really stand out in Saunders’s first go-round.
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