Jonathan Saunders Ready To Wear Spring Summer 2016 London

Brilliant sunshine pierced through the sheer plastic marquee at midday for Jonathan Saunders. The dazzling daylight sent rays of sunlight bouncing off the angled mirrored sets and colliding into the powder blue benches that crisscrossed in geometric formations inside the prism-like venue. Saunders’ Spring/Summer may have been staged just behind Kings Cross, but the blinding natural light transported this colorist's collection across continents and cultures in a collection of color, print, and effortless elegance.

“Summertime and the living is easy” – there was a sensual mix of orientalist prints, soft kimono drapes, laser cut cotton poplin, guipure lace, and understated spiral silk and satin cuts falling on the skin. Delicate bias cut slip dresses hung from spaghetti straps as the spirit of Bohemian sisters Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf rippled through the wafting fluid silhouettes.

Stripes and bold geometry of fabrics softly layered clean modern lines of russet orange, sun bleached white, sky blue, and flesh tones that would zig zag around the body as they followed the grain of the bias.  Flora, fauna, tropical to tribal geometric prints, and blocks of ice acidic yellow, powder blue, orange, and neutrals draped with asymmetry and ease in a strong collection that layered traditional techniques, the slip dress, the free spirit of the twenties, and sunshine with an assured cut and sophisticated modernity.