Saunders, a Scotsman who has made the U.K. capital his home, got his
inspiration from the glory days of Disco, i.e., the late 70s, when he
had been barely born in Glasgow. But he took the glitz and excess of the
dance culture somewhere very new with a wonderful sense of edgy posh.
He may create clothes with fabrics worthy of a diva, but Saunders cuts
his silhouettes very lady like indeed.
"I wanted to capture the things I see in an Antonio Lopez Polaroids. Their drama, their intense colors," Saunders told FWD, referring to the legendary illustrator and chronicler of the Me Decade.
"I wanted to capture the things I see in an Antonio Lopez Polaroids. Their drama, their intense colors," Saunders told FWD, referring to the legendary illustrator and chronicler of the Me Decade.
Using huge swirls, zigzags and
twists of bold blocks of color and materials like neon sequins, metallic
leathers and micro disk silk, Saunders created a collection that
dazzled without ever falling into excess. It helps that his cuts are
relatively restrained - slip dresses, almost prim tops and boyfriends'
jackets. To keep it sexy, the Scotsman added in micro bras and large
Disco Queen shades, yet the ensembles never looked stagey.
Saunders is creative and
important in that he taps exuberance into cool panache: his women
attract attention, but always admiringly. In a lesser designer's hands
this would be a pastiche; in Saunders case it's a major new trend.
Staged Sunday evening, Sept. 16,
in the bowels of Tate Modern, on the south bank of the Thames, the show
was also London's best staged - a twisting angled catwalk, Kevlar walls
before austere concrete columns and an ace soundtrack by Jean Noel Young.
"It was all this stuff I used to admire when I was kid, but could
never afford. And I was born in 1977. That and the way Michael Clark
dancers would arch their backs," the designer added, referring to the
famed Scottish choreographer.
So, after presenting London's
best menswear collection in June, Saunders has presented the most
telling women's show in September. He is on something of a roll.
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