Introduction
Jonathan Saunders is a Scottish fashion and textile designer born in Glasgow in 1977. He graduated from Glasgow School of Art in printed textiles in 1999 and completed an MA at Central Saint Martins in 2002. His early print expertise led to work for Alexander McQueen and other fashion houses before he established his own London label in 2003, building a reputation around technically accomplished print, strong colour and modern womenswear.
Saunders developed his independent business alongside consultancy and house appointments, including a period at Pollini. His label became a prominent part of London fashion and received the British Fashion Council/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund in 2012 before closing in 2015. On 16 May 2016 he joined Diane von Furstenberg Studio LLC as its first chief creative officer, reporting to CEO Paolo Riva and taking responsibility across all product categories, stores, web and marketing.
Spring 2017 was Saunders’s first official DVF collection. Over the following seasons he reshaped the house through textile development, a redesigned logo, looser silhouettes and a more autonomous collection identity, culminating in Pre-Fall 2018. He resigned effective 15 December 2017 after eighteen months and subsequently continued independent work across fashion, craft, interiors and collaborative projects. On 21 July 2026 Tapestry named him Executive Creative Director of Kate Spade New York, effective 26 August 2026, with responsibility for product design and brand visual identity in close partnership with CEO & Brand President Eva Erdmann.
Design ethos
Saunders begins with colour and textile structure. Traditional silk-screening, engineered motifs and carefully controlled palettes allow print to determine the architecture of a garment, with blocks of colour, repeated geometry and fluid placement guiding where fabric falls around the body. His strongest collections use surface as a constructional tool as well as decoration.
Drape and print often work together in his womenswear. Scarves, panels and asymmetric lengths can create movement without losing graphic precision, and clean sportswear shapes provide space for pattern to remain legible. At DVF this vocabulary gave the house’s established love of print a new scale, with softer tailoring, fluid dresses and stronger textile development extending the collection beyond the familiar wrap silhouette.
Saunders also treats fashion as a complete visual environment. His DVF mandate encompassed product, identity, stores and digital communication, and the collections were accompanied by changes in logo, presentation format and imagery. That breadth matches his textile thinking: individual garments belong to a larger composition in which colour, typography, space and styling reinforce one another.
Disclaimer
Career history
2026
Tapestry announced Jonathan Saunders as Executive Creative Director of Kate Spade New York on 21 July 2026, with his appointment effective 26 August. His remit spans product design and brand visual identity, placing one named creative leader across both areas.
2017
Saunders resigned effective 15 December 2017 after eighteen months at DVF. His departure ended the enterprise-wide chief creative officer structure after Pre-Fall 2018 had been presented as his final completed collection.
2016
Jonathan Saunders joined DVF on 16 May 2016 as the house’s first chief creative officer, reporting to CEO Paolo Riva. His mandate covered all product categories, stores, web and marketing, giving him the broadest documented creative authority of the decade.
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