London Fashion Week‘s very well organized shows for spring were threaded with a significant trend that effortlessly mixed that much desired hard/soft aesthetic. Original and challenging prints on silk and chiffon etched themselves across the majority of presentations, setting a singular yet commercial tone to London this season. House of Jazz played with pastels and black multi-size circles rolling down swingy separates and sweeping holiday night dresses. Jenny Packman worked bold stripes and circles onto asymetrical caftans. Emma Cook, not one to shy away from murky colors, mixed mustard, brick and gray into an animal and landscape scene and then chimed in with a print showing off the mechanics of watch parts — daring and beautiful. Jonathan Saunders‘ (see JC Report, Issue 14) vibrant, optic, from-a-beautiful-other-world prints on cool shapes was the whisper among editors and buyers. Julie Verhoeven for Gibo toned down the infantile scribbling from last season but showed cartoon prints on chiffon. Steely gray caftans with brushstokes and polka dots splattered Jasper Conran’s collection. The print specialist Eley Kishimoto worked a swirly design onto cowl neck silk dresses. And Maria Grachvogel made mid-body cut-outs to create designs on pink chiffon. Could these prints be the start of a new kind of logo?

- Jason Campbell

Photo: Jenny Packman spring 2004