The Style Examiner was recently invited to attend a private viewing of Jan Si’s inaugural womenswear collection. The new London-based label is the brainchild of Lithuanian fashion designer Sigita Janelionyte, who has honed her sartorial skills by having worked as a creative pattern cutter and seamstress for designers such as Mary Katrantzou, Meadham Kirchhoff, Ralph & Russo, MASC, and Delusion Clothing, amongst others.
Jan Si’s debut collection for Autumn/Winter 2012 was exhibited to a small number of fashion contacts in an intimate runway salon show. Under the name ‘C.C.F.T.’ (the initials for ‘Creation Comes From Technique’), it revealed a masterful and elegant command of sewing, leather gluing, and pattern making techniques. The collection included 21 looks in a mix of elegant shapes that evoked Japanese designs of the late 1980s while nodding to contemporary minimalist lines and techniques.
Fabrics included luxurious mohair, wool, silky jersey, suede, and leather in a neutral palette of black, white, grey and beige. Accomplished tight fitting leggings, tops and dresses (of a mini and column variety) alternated with flowing pleated skirts and trains. In addition, a number of asymmetrical shapes, deconstructed neck lines, twisted fabrics, and seductive details such as suede panelling or trimming played key roles.
Amidst a vast sea of current young fashion designers who (particularly in London fashion circles) rely on heady eccentricity and reinterpreted colourful looks of the 1980s and 1990s, to find a label like Jan Si whose designs cherish sartorial technique and restraint can be a breath of fresh air. Overall, this was a promising debut that revealed Sigita Janelionyte as a talented designer and artisan to watch.