Eye: Jonathan Saunders Talks 'Balls of Steel', Freedom of Expression & Community At Diane von Furstenberg
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Scottish designer Jonathan Saunders has been chief creative officer of America's iconic Diane von Furstenberg or DVF since May 2016. In short order, Saunders injected modern color, clashing prints and expert draping techniques that pay homage to the original Smart Sensuality image of the brand.
These changes came into view in DVF's Fall 2017 ad campaign, an homage to New York City and all its people. Lensed by Oliver Hadlee Pearch and styled by Camille Bidault-Wadddington, with art direction by Jonny Lu, the campaign features Luna Bijl, Yoon Young Bae, Angok Mayen, and Cara Taylor amongst real New Yorkers in Harlem, Tompkins Square Park, and Liberty Island. "The people that the girls interacted with were kids that were dancing in the streets in Harlem and these beautiful boys, who we met on a bench in Tompkins Square Park, all these real people in New York that symbolize to me what is so brilliant about this city," Saunders told Refinery 29.
"New York is this brand’s home. Yes, it’s international, yes, travel is so important to this brand, but New York is its home," he says. Not to mention, "New York has always been an inspiration to me," Saunders continues. "I’ve always been inspired by the time in New York in the ‘70s where Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Robert Mapplethorpe, Patti Smith, all these incredibly cool, incredibly creative people made such beautiful and extensive bodies of work within this city."
