Jonathan Saunders Closes: Where Are All the Good Guys Going?
This week, Jonathan Saunders followed in the still-fresh footsteps of Raf Simons and Alber Elbaz to seal a hat-trick of disconcerting designer disappearances, on announcing the imminent closure of his eponymous label. Enigmatically citing “personal reasons”, the Glaswegian Central Saint Martins and Glasgow School of Art graduate, who showed his first collection to immediate critical acclaim in 2003, has promised to honour orders from the SS16 collection.
Despite his 11 month partnership with Roksanda investor Eiesha Bharti Pasricha, named “an incredible support” in Tuesday’s announcement, the smart money is on financial considerations having playing a major role in forcing Saunders’ hand.
Are we playing witness to the downfall of London’s most notable “fast fashion” victim to date? If Saunders – whose colourful creations have graced Vogue covers, red carpets and White House dinner tables for more than a decade – can’t make it work, what hope for tomorrow’s starry-eyed graduates when, in an unsettling sign of the times, Vogue respectfully yet earnestly suggests that one of the most successful designers of his generation might be better off sticking to rugs?
As the treadmill of the business of fashion continues to turn ever faster, things are beginning to give… Sadly, it looks like creativity, originality and integrity are set to count amongst the first casualties.
Samantha Simmonds
@Sam_Muses
