It’s been five months since Scottish designer Jonathan Saunders closed the eponymous label he launched in 2003. Now, it’s been announced that the London-based fashion designer has become chief creative officer at New York label Diane von Furstenberg. The appointment, which is effective immediately, makes creative sense. Both the designer and the label champion colour and print.
Von Furstenberg launched in the 1970s when she introduced her now-iconic jersey wrap dress. Nowadays, her Studio 54 wrap-dress vibes provide powerful iconography. She wrote, in the New York Times: I am so lucky to be old enough to have danced at Studio 54 and young enough to be involved in the first design collaboration with Google.” The brand was relaunched in 1997 and in 2015 there was an estimated $500 million in annual revenue.
Saunders will report to chief executive Paolo Riva and will be responsible for the overall creative direction of the brand. Von Furstenberg, who remains as chair of the brand, was effusive in a statement released on Monday: “Jonathan’s extraordinary passion for colours and prints, his effortless designs and his desire to make women feel beautiful make him the perfect creative force to lead DVF into the future.” She continued to say: “I could not have found a cooler, more intelligent designer.”
Riva said: “For the past year, I have rebuilt our senior leadership around a new strategy. Now is absolutely the right time to bring in a creative force to help execute this vision and provide strong creative direction.” He added: “Jonathan is an incredibly talented designer who is able to express his creative vision with great clarity. He will evolve the identity of DVF and passionately embrace our mission of putting women at the centre of everything we do. I look forward to this partnership with him.”
The appointment of Saunders, who will be based in New York, will allow von Furstenberg to her to spend more time pursuing philanthropy and mentorship, according to the company. She once said: “I have built something big, and now I need to carve the DNA really deeply into it, because I am planning for a time after me.” Perhaps now is that time. Saunders, meanwhile, said he was “thrilled”, and noted that “the spirit with which this brand was founded is incredibly relevant today”.
[Image left to right: Diane von Furstenberg autumn/winter 2016; Jonathan Saunders spring/summer 2016.]
