London Fashion Week: Jonathan Saunders and Mulberry

Look At Me asked Italian journalist Anna Battista to write about the 12 most interesting shows of London Fashion Week - from Ashish to Burberry. Anna's reviews will appear on the London Week’s blog the day after the show. Today, Anna talks about the important LFW second and third day shows: one of the best shows of London Fashion Week is Jonathan Saunders, as well as the Mulberry show at Claridge's Hotel.

Jonathan Saunders SS 2012

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Three is the perfect number. What inspired Saunders to the spring-summer collection, fit into three words: color, prints and femininity. Saunders is expanding - he now produces four women's and two men's collections a year, and is also working on launching an accessory line. But all this does not adversely affect his abilities. On the contrary, in his collection is something for everyone, from young girls who need a simple but sharp design, to sophisticated women in search of something modern and elegant.

The main inspirational factor was Miami and its beaches: warm turquoise and peach, blue and green prevailed in the collection, and their acidic orange and lemon complemented it all, which allowed the designer to create rich prints, but their shades were delicate and did not hurt the eyes.

Nice colors and complex degradation in mandala prints were not the only visible elements in the collection. Prim apron dresses with lush skirts, light silk jackets, skirts below the knee length and summer coats were feminine and at the same time possessed the clarity of the buildings of Le Corbusier, one of Saunders' heroes. “Elegance is denial,” Diane Vreeland once said, and Saunders rejected too complex designs in favor of refined simplicity.

But not everything was so simple. There were cutouts at the back, and transparent dresses with twisted baroque appliqués (perhaps a link to neo-baroque hotels in Miami?) —Black, white, and yellow. All this added to the collection of some carefully controlled sensuality.

All this was definitely liked by the visitors - many of which came in women's and men's things from the Saunders current collection. It may be too early to say that this was the main show of the Week, but the Saunders show definitely became the main show of the day, courage, femininity and chic were so well balanced.

Mulberry SS 2012

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At first, there was not even a podium here. Imagine: a room in the luxurious Claridge's, Kate Moss in a Mulberry denim shirt, first appeared at the shows of this season, the star of "Twilight" Kristen Stewart and other celebrities of various sizes.

However, the show began, and again we remembered everything that traditionally infuses the brand: naughty British summer, weekends on the coast, trips on a donkey, ice cream on the beach, lighted pier, meadows and summer flowers. In general, a sort of mix from the 70s, the series “Keep It Up”, resort kitsch (unimaginable, but the models came to the podium from giant lips with white teeth), well, and some references (beige and olive) to the boy scout uniform and brownies.

If we ignore all kinds of entertainment in the form of inflated animals that met visitors at the entrance, it seemed that you didn’t come to the show, but to the amusement park. as well as animal-themed commercial designs, raincoats and jackets were the most commercial elements of the collection. Yellow, mint-colored and pink, they will surely be in the wardrobe of those who want to get ready for the changeable British summer. And even despite the fact that the model, which came out on the catwalk with a doggie in a matching coat, evoked Emilio Schubert from the show, who dragged the dogs sprinkled with paint of the same color as their outfits, raincoats and jackets were definitely the best in the whole collection.

The show also demonstrated a new collection of bags called "The Traveling Collection". Large and medium sized shoulder bags, camera bags - these simple and functional things will clearly serve the brand in good stead, given Mulberry’s plans to conquer new markets.