Jamaican Bollywood Techno

Jamaican Bollywood Techno. This prob­a­bly sounds a lit­tle intim­i­dat­ing to you min­i­mal­ists out there– but never fear. Fashion Designer Nathan Jenden has designed some beau­ti­fully tai­lored sep­a­rates in basic black and white if the flu­o­res­cent taffeta bustle-backed skirts are a lit­tle much for you.

Nathan Jenden’s Spring 2010 show was an exhil­a­rat­ing col­lec­tion of kalei­do­scopic prints, vivid color, and vol­ume. Jenden fear­lessly sent his mod­els down the run­way in strik­ing flu­o­res­cent, sequins, and dig­i­tally engi­neered pat­terns. So many loud ele­ments at once usu­ally bor­der­lines on a col­lec­tion look­ing too gar­ish. However Jenden grounded his col­lec­tion with ele­gantly tai­lored jack­ets, pen­cil skirts, and silk blouses in jet black and stark white. We thought it was just enough to make us look at each piece as an inde­pen­dent, wear­able garment.

The show had a multi-cultural theme– the mod­els were all black and Asian, each sport­ing two high pig­tail braids. The brightly col­ored tight mini dresses, frilly skirts and over sized hats had an old school Jamaican dance­hall feel to them. Along with the Jamaican vibe Jenden also tapped into Indian cul­ture for inspi­ra­tion: Indian god­dess prints, sari style wraps, and harem pants. Sparkly ban­gles stacked from wrist to elbow were paired with embell­ished 80s shades. The look was neon, eth­nic glam­our.

Nathan’s col­lec­tion was a bit over the top for most women, but we found the show inspir­ing and really fun. We would love to pull some pieces from this col­lec­tion to incor­po­rate into our wardrobes this sea­son. We want some­thing light­hearted and full of energy after the harsh win­ter that felt like it would never end.

We only just heard of Nathan Jenden, but we like what we see-we know we won’t get bored. The British born designer stud­ied at Central Saint Martens and the Royal College of Art, then going on to appren­tice with John Galliano in the nineties. After work­ing for Kenzo and Daryl K, he found him­self at Diane von Furstenburg in 2001, where he would be Creative Director until just this past February. Jenden launched his own line in 2006, where he shared with the world his sig­na­ture style: highly tai­lored, mod­ern pieces. We are excited to see what he will show us next.

HighStreet.New York.