makebeleave: 07/01/2009

7/8/09

Peter Jensen pulled a rabbit out of a hat for his first Resort collection—or to be more exact, a bunny from his back catalog. "I had the little rabbit as a graphic in my Mildred collection ages ago. Then I thought we should bring him back as our logo," he said at a charming presentation in the quirky St. Barnabas House in London's Soho—an eighteenth-century relic with the atmosphere of a local church hall (with teatime Women's Institute-worthy Victoria sponge and cherries laid on as refreshments). Turns out the rabbit got its hands, or rather paws, ears, and whiskers, on Jensen's clothes as well as his new swimwear line. A white T-shirt dress with a rabbit-shaped bib has loose ears that tie behind the neck, while a sweet sixties bikini comes with an ears halter. And just for fun there are giant pink, blue, and black plastic bunny sunglasses too, but, Jensen promises, "we're working on ones you could really wear."

The Danish designer had his model pose in a sitting-room set wholly drawn in black marker by his illustrator friend Charlotte Mann. The looks he presented—simple half-flounced crepe dresses and sweet pea-colored sequin cardigans, as well as a shift in a print featuring ants carrying off rings, strawberries, and a Scrabble tile—should be surefire love objects for teen/early twenties girls on the lookout for something cute but not saccharine to spend their babysitting money on. Happily for Jensen, that market is one of the few that are still bouncing along as if nothing too grim is happening in the outside world, so kudos to him for the focus.