WORD.

LONDON FASHION WEEK S/S2011 – JONATHAN SAUNDERS 

Taking the fresh, pared down performance aesthetic of last season and infusing it with the elegant, classic femininity recently re-appropriated by Miuccia Prada and still sweeping throughout New York and London (see Proenza Schouler and Christopher Kane), Jonathan Saunders pitched his urban woman into a crisp, brisk Summer.

Taking in cocktail dresses and pencil skirts, sweetheart necklines and buttoned up shirts, flaring skater skirts and tightly cinched waists, polite bordering on preppy silhouettes were revitalised via Jonathan's signature surface treatment. From an opening round of gaussian blur stripes - striking across blank cream and wheat canvases in primary tones - to pixelated Miami prints - in verdant green and dove gray on white and nude - and customary modernist blocking - accentuating the waist when outlined in black and punctuated with a slimline belt, Saunders captured the tussle that constitutes modern life with clothing ripe for city and cruise, work and play.

Moving through further separates - a standout belted blazer in cornflour blue, halter tops with the thinnest of spaghetti straps and high waisted shorts - a passage of delicate, nuanced gowns gave a nod to evening. Bodies overlayed by sheer, printed chiffon in bursting tones of yellow and orange, crew necks fastening open backs and busts, deep V cuts overlayed with a square cut mesh redolent of last season's laser cuts, broached an energetic, flirtatious embrace of the feminine form.

A final pair of monochrome gowns - finished with iridescent, patent panels and glittering motifs formed from Swarovski crystals - one column in length, the other, shorter, kicky, skater in silhouette, captured the collection's balance of insouciant youth and informed polish, the athletic and the genteel.

Catwalk images to follow...

Posted by Luke Raymond