Talking Fashion with Jonathan Saunders

With his presence required in Australia one day, then Singapore the next, it’s no wonder Jonathan was in need of a glass of wine when Lou Stoppard from SHOWstudio caught up with him at the V&A’s evening lecture on the 5th of November 2013.

Jonathan Saunders actually never thought he’d be a fashion designer, not even after the launch of his first collection. After a move from the conceptual fashion scene in Glasgow to the epicentre of fashion in London, he found himself with no accommodation, friends or place to stay. Driven by a passion to attend Central Saint Martins, of which he had heard so much about from previous tutor Louise, he arrived at the interview initially to find himself a little disheartened after noticing a fellow prospective student dressed from head to toe in Louis Vuitton. He began to question his own look and wondered if all fashion students had to dress in such a manner to succeed. After this bumpy start, and a conservative family background, getting to know London and how it ticks became exciting for the young Saunders. He comments on this time at Central Saint Martins as a student: “They didn’t really teach you. They teach you to form your own opinion, to question everything, which is very important in the fashion industry. That was my Saint Martins experience. I was also getting drunk a lot.”

Saunders studied Print Design at a time when Belgian designers were very much at the forefront of the industry. Jonathan recalls, “I struggled being known as just a print designer.” After years of grasping to also prove a flair for pattern cutting, it came down to showing the industry who he is as a designer.

He tells us, “As one who loves his work, and as a designer, you really have to consider the person who is wearing your clothes. Do they make you feel fun, charismatic, sexy? These are the feelings created by the designer. The consultancy I received from companies I worked for was a great inspiration and push in the right direction; it didn’t bother me that I wasn’t getting paid. Alexander McQueen gave me an understanding of how the industry works and Phoebe Philo from Chloé thought me what the customers want. Gucci was amazing from the printing perspective. Jonathan from McQueen told me to never open a store unless you’re a 100 million over. I will not be opening my own store anytime soon.”

With fashion fetishising the new, and constantly throwing out new things,this is a fact that Saunders embraces. “Becoming a signature brand with just the one idea would have made me bored. I tend to hate my collections as soon as they’ve been shown, but find love for them again after a couple of years when reflecting on past seasons. Often seeing things completely different from one season to another, that’s what keeps me going.”

Jonathan uses traditional techniques such as silk screening; only recently has he embraced modern processes such as digital printing, as for him luxury is about the craftsmanship. Unfortunately, replicas from the high street are devaluating this. When he started off ten years ago, he argues, fashion wasn’t inspiring at all, but just a logo. He feels lucky to live in a time where the consumer wants something creative, something about a craft image, not simple branding.” And when women and men want something that stands out, his trademark prints are something easily seen.

New collections always start with colour. “I would put together straps of paper. If I do a collection with artificial colours, I’d think of the Pet Shop Boys and on my mood board try to find colours that clash. Then I think of a person. ‘Oh, it looks a bit like a hippie,’ I might think, and there might be an artist who used those colours so I’d research that. Basically, I collect ravishingly to tell that story as fast as I can before moving on to the drawings. Half of it won’t work, so you amend and try to get it all together before you have the girls walking the collection.”

Saunders crossed the pond to show in New York for commercial reasons. Anna Wintour had been very supportive and suggested that, if he came to New York, maybe he could make people understand his collections better. Initially he was not too keen on it – but since he knew that he’d just been picked up by a couple of stores there he went for it. The city taught him an understanding of the American market and how to advertise your brand without the budget to afford a PR agency. When eventually asked to return to London, he did so without a second thought, and with the upcoming collection he managed to achieve a jump in sales ‘because I was happy. I love London’.

Jonathan produces six collections a year, comprising of four womens and two mens, with Spring / Summer 2014 marking the 10-year anniversary for the designer. The womens collection is inspired by his girlfriends, the first ever people he made clothes for, an inspiration that has definitely come through with his collection being described as cool and youthful. The mens is a mix of bright colours and greys, splashed on silky bomber jackets as well as more traditional styles of garments. “I did collaborations with names such as Topshop or Target in America, which was a lot of money, but the good thing is when you can learn from the process. And it’s important to be accessible.”

When Talking about the fashion cycle, and summer collections being released in December while it’s freezing cold, he forecasts that it will all collapse some day. “At the moment we’re pretending we all know what we’re doing, whereas, in fact, we don’t.” Many things go wrong in a small company, so fixing things with the support of his team and trying to get better is the plan for Jonathan in the future. After the talk Lou Stoppard told us it had been a whole bottle rather than just a glass.
Cheers!

NoéMie Schwaller