Like his peers Christopher Kane and Richard Nicoll, Jonathan Saunders drew parallel lines between his women s Resort collection and his men s collection for Spring. And, as with them, the symbiosis brought into sharp focus just how distinctive the designer s voice has become. In Saunders case, the standout signatures included his perverse color sense, made more so by his affection for green. It s the most difficult shade in the fashion spectrum, yet when he graded different tones of the stuff in a summery shirt, it also looked like the freshest. Likewise, the iciness of a chartreuse blouson neutralized by ivory trousers was the essence of cool for a hot summer s day (even if the days themselves are increasingly rare, in London at least).
Then there s Saunders acute grasp of fabric technology, clearest in this season s use of bonding instead of stitching. A bicolor tee was the most striking example, probably because it was the most casual use of a technique Saunders had devoted months to perfecting. Something about the cavalier nature of that threw a little more light on his design personality, flippantly pop on top, a dedicated toiler down under.
Saunders also cut city shorts from vinyl-coated cotton and shirts from the translucent silk-Lurex blend that stood out in Resort. Their techy-ness was reflected in the slide show that flashed past on the walls of the London Film Museum, underscoring the fact that the designer s love of a synthetic sheen is another of his signatures. If Ettore Sottsass Memphis from the late eighties helped define Resort, for Spring Saunders dialed forward to the early nineties: the sound and style of Pet Shop Boys, the spirit of Patrick Bateman, American Psycho and all-round snappy dresser. The wool and nylon tailoring was sharp, so sharp, in fact, that Saunders actually printed a crease on a pair of trousers. To go with the suits: his first range of ties and a collection of briefcases designed with Smythson. "The city-ness of it all feels like a music video," said Saunders, "but it s not one I ve ever seen."
