Charlie Brown and his Peanuts gang inspires Danish-designed cartoon couture

A new collection by Danish designer Peter Jensen takes inspiration from an unlikely muse, writes Rebecca Gonsalves

The Danish designer Peter Jensen has unusual taste in women. That’s not a rude reflection on his personal life, but rather it refers to the muses he chooses for his womenswear. Leading ladies of his past collections have included iconic names – Diana Ross, Faye Dunaway, Tippi Hedren – as well as the more unusual, including the poisoned socialite Sunny von Bülow and Viv Nicholson, the pools winner who lost it all.

While he has previously celebrated these women, flaws and all, this season Jensen has taken inspiration from someone rather one-dimensional, but instantly recognisable nonetheless. In her blue mini-dress and black-and-white saddle shoes, Lucy van Pelt – the forthright female star of Charles M Schulz’s beloved Peanuts gang – was a firm favourite of Jensen’s from an early age.

While the collection may be named for Lucy, she is joined by other female characters from Charlie Brown’s coterie, including Snoopy’s sibling Belle and Charlie Brown’s sister Sally. Tapioca Pudding, one of the lesser-known characters, proudly states: “My dad is in licensing… my face is going to be on T-shirts and lunchboxes” – but with Jensen’s trademark wit, all that can be seen is her hair.

As well as screen prints, the girls appear in more abstract form: a jacquard of scribbled bows is an interpretation of their naïve and playful style, while the colour palette is somewhat cartoonish in its vibrancy. In Jensen’s inimitable way, this collection speaks to the child in every grown-up.

brownsfashion.com