The fundamental right of a woman to have an ego the same size as a man’s is every bit as central to the Diane von Furstenberg brand as the wrap dress.
The Von Furstenberg mythology – fame and fortune as the twentysomething designer of said dress and her immortalisation by Andy Warhol as an iconic New York beauty – celebrates a woman who is in charge of her life and who defers to no one.
Entirely at home in the limelight, Von Furstenberg has never had any patience for the feminine habit of self-deprecation. Her memoir is titled The Woman I Wanted To Be. Even her Jack Russell has the grandiose name of Evita.
So the arrival of a new – male – chief creative officer at the label where 69-year-old Von Furstenberg remains both boss and spiritual leader is a delicate balancing act. The Diane-ness of DVF is the lifeblood of the brand – but the job of any new designer is to make a brand newsworthy, fresh and relevant. Fashion thrives on shock value, and a legacy can be killed with kindness.
Jonathan Saunders walked this tightrope gracefully at a low-key New York fashion week presentation, four months after his role was announced. He was careful to put in the foreground how Von Furstenberg’s philosophy remained fundamental, commenting that the collection was “in keeping with Diane’s values of how a woman should feel in her clothes” and to put the wrap dress centre stage in his first season.
But if you hadn’t been told that Saunders’ dresses for DVF were DVF wrap dresses, you wouldn’t necessarily know it to look at them. A dress in panels of dark, kimono floral silk fastened by a silver-buckled belt felt like a new kind of day dress – tea dress inspired but with a punk spirit. A spaghetti-strapped dress with a ruffle falling loose over the silk tie at the waist had an airy, modern chic. Both were quite different in silhouette from the classic wrap dress, something which may prove an asset.
It is almost fashion heresy to say it, but DVF’s original wrap is flattering only on certain body shapes. The lively palette of the collection – tobacco, jade, turquoise, red and navy stripes, on one dress – successfully showcased Saunders’ talent as a bold colourist, an aesthetic that chimes with the confident spirit of the DVF brand.
The arrival of Saunders marks a new era at DVF. There have been two designers in this job since Von Furstenberg stepped down – first Nathan Jenden, then Yvan Mispelaere – but neither had the profile of Saunders, who until last year helmed a critically acclaimed London label.
And in a marked contrast to last season, when Von Furstenberg posed with the models at her New York show, she was not present at the showroom appointments where Saunders showed his first DVF collection to editors this weekend.
