Jonathan Saunders shows an eye for colour with new range of sunglasses

The Scottish designer brings his palette to frames

Models wear Ellis in camouflage and in navy; price from £180, available from Liberty, liberty.co.uk

If there’s one thing that Scottish designer and London fashion week linchpin Jonathan Saunders is known for, it’s his love of colour.

His autumn/winter 2015 womenswear show was played out alongside a plethora of prismically coloured pillars flanking the colonnaded halls of the Tate Britain like a contemporary art installation – or a sumptuous Dulux swatch book – reflecting not only the collection, but Saunders’ aesthetic as a whole.

“That’s my favourite part of the job,” says Saunders. “I love colours together – you’re walking around and you see something beside something and that’s what’s interesting about it; not in isolation.”

Hence the fact that, even among London’s ever-colourful throngs, Saunders – with his contrasts of egg-yolk yellow and turquoise, of fluoro cyclamen and tomato – has stood out ever since his debut in 2003. In fact, he stood out even before that, when his hand was responsible for a selection of kaleidoscopic prints for Alexander McQueen’s spring 2003 collection. When Saunders turned his hand to menswear in 2011, colour was out in full force for fellas too.

What’s the next step? Well, with colours that bright on his clothes, sunglasses are a natural development. For spring/summer 2015 he combines his eye for design and love of an electro-jolt palette to craft a 29-piece eyewear collection, for him and for her.

Price from £180, available from Liberty, liberty.co.uk

Shot through with Saunders’ signature style, there’s a trademark use of striking pattern and flashes of block-colour. A preppy Fifties feel – heavy, Buddy Holly squared-off shapes for him, slightly cat’s-eye for her – sit alongside classic circular and aviator styles, while Saunders’ shades are slightly more muted to tonal truffle and amber, with electric shots of blue.

Saunders is currently buoyed by investment from Eiesha Bharti Pasricha to help expand his brand. “Joy and optimism” were his watchwords for autumn/winter 2015 – and with that sunny an outlook, these shades drop in store at the perfect time for both his customers and Saunders himself.

liberty.co.uk