Jonathan Saunders worries about overintellectualizing his work, but he really shouldn't. His "overintellectualizing" is usually an entertaining trip around his head—the way his Pre-Fall collection for women and his Fall collection for men evolved together, for instance, creating a scene in his mind, like the stimulating little universes his inspirations Ryan McGinley and Michael Clark made with their friends.
And, like their worlds, Saunders' scene was polymorphous: beautiful boys and girls belonging together in endless combinations. Maybe that's not precisely what the designer meant when he said, "So much of what I do is about combinations," but that was the takeaway from two collections that shared so much: boyfriend tailoring, oversize knitwear, striping, and checkerboard-ing, the "vandalizing" of precious prints in the name of a graphic spirit that Saunders saw as slightly punk.
He also saw something a little less craft-y and organic than his West Coastal spring collection. "The sharpness is back," he remarked. "There's an acidness." That slightly hallucinatory quality has often been his best friend, but here it maybe wasn't as evident as something else that's sneaking in as a semi-signature: an air of sophisticated vintage, like the blousons and blazers over striped tees and relaxed trousers or pleated skirts. It's so casual that its almost throwaway. At the same time, it's a stiletto-sharp look that oozes seductive tomboy confidence. Saunders knows his girls.
