Diane von Furstenberg’s name will always and forevermore be linked with the wrap dress. “I didn’t make the wrap dress; the wrap dress made me,” she said earlier this year. But Jonathan Saunders, new chief creative officer, doesn’t see the brand heritage quite so cut and dried. At a presentation of his second collection for the label he called it “a textile house.” He’s using Von Furstenberg’s deep archive of prints as a reason to create more—many more—of his own for the company. And not only prints; he’s focused on fabric development in general.
Walking into the Chelsea gallery space where the presentation was held was a cheering experience. Saunders has a freewheeling sense of color. A sleeveless dress in a corded Japanese silk combined mustard, sky blue, and black, and was piped in tomato red. Similarly, a one-shouldered dress in a patchwork of florals gave proof to what he said about his studio habits. “I work a lot on the mannequin, cutting on the bias, and combining spontaneously when the fabrics come in.” That spontaneous sensibility also came through in the way he layered separate pieces—see the lilac fil coupe sheath topping a lemon yellow clingy knit and accessorized by a deep red fox stole, and a single dangler of an earring.
The flip side of all that spontaneity is a seriousness of purpose. Saunders is working on every aspect of the brand. Eagle-eyed observers clocked the new block logo near the gallery entrance; “it’s like a flag,” Saunders said. The DVF monogram is up next. As for the iconic wrap dress, he showed a breezy three-quarter-sleeve version in turquoise dotted with peach flowers; it was one of the prettiest looks in the bunch.
