Fall 2009: Emphasis on Shoulders

Photo by Thomas Iannaccone

From International Herald Tribune

NEW YORK: The difference between the male and female approach to fashion was proved by Jonathan Saunders, a British designer who took a bold creative stance. Strong shoulder lines, heads wrapped in nunlike covers and stiff brocade fabrics in arty colors were austere and almost medieval. Yet the cape-sleeve tops succeeded in bringing a fresh emphasis to shoulders without going back to the 1980s power woman look.

Whether Saunders, who also designs for the Italian Pollini label, was wise to bring his strong vision and inventive prints to New York is another story. For this is a city where a male designer seems less likely than in Europe to put a heroic stamp of high fashion on the independent woman's closet.

- Suzy Menkes