Given the faltering state of the high street, it’s always a relief to hear some positive news. Jigsaw is a case in point.
From flounder and drear irrelevance, it’s been steered back to life by Jo Sykes, creative director since 2019. Sykes has great design pedigree. Part of the Noughties London Fashion Week generation, she funnelled her post-Central Saint Martins energy into an eponymous label which insiders (myself included) loved. She helmed Aquascutum and Nicole Farhi before arriving at Jigsaw just before the pandemic. Since then, she’s overseen a full scale overhaul of the brand, closed 30 shops and stripped it back to its womenswear traditions, ditching menswear and kids’ collections.
Critically, she’s been turning out well made, well-priced clothes with just enough design flair that women want to wear — which given the rails of dross elsewhere isn’t as easy as it might seem. It’s worked: sales rose 19 per cent to £56.8 million in the 2022-23 results. Part of her remit is bringing in those collaborative flourishes the brand has traditionally done so well.
The latest is a very covetable capsule with Roksanda IlinÄiÄ (two years ahead of her at Saint Martins). Designer high street collaborations are nothing new, but this combination of two strong female designers (still a depressing rarity) feels more special than the average.
“She embodies the type of women that we design for,” Sykes told me. “The idea is not to sell loads of stuff. It’s to give the customer something that’s precious.” Hero pieces include a fabulous reversible sheepskin jacket — black patent with a flamingo sheepskin lining. But there are also beautiful silk dresses in those rich colour clashes IlinÄiÄ has made her signature, as well as tailored pieces with knit details — a camel coat with knitted sleeves is particularly great.
It drills down into Sykes’s vision for Jigsaw: “You’re looking for such a multifunctional wardrobe. Our women want things they can go to work in, go to dinner in, then they probably wear the same things at the weekend.”
For IlinÄiÄ, it allowed her to offer her vibrant designs to a broader audience, something she’s dipped a toe into with prior collaborations with Fila and Barbour. “The whole idea of being able to produce something that is affordable to a much wider audience but at the same time not compromising the quality, it’s interesting,” she offers of her hook-ups that bend to “the unexpected and unusual”.
The collection has her distinct colour play and handwriting throughout. “My collections are always inspired with some sort of artistic expression or a movement.” She notes that her customers graduate towards “looking demure during the day and quite flamboyant in the evening. I love mixing it up and when rules are broken or challenged. I think that’s what’s happening right now, anything can be worn at any moment.”
Part of their joint success is being able to astutely tap into what works for now. “I think we probably design a lot for ourselves,” says Sykes. “ We tried everything on, and you think a lot about comfort and your lifestyle.” There are easy wins here for brightening up glum winter days, and the fabrications and rich hues will make perfect party pieces for those allergic to glitter and sequins (hi).
For colour phobics, IlinÄiÄ suggests layering a colourful polo neck under suiting, for subtle injections. Equally, she offers, “it’s good to challenge yourself. You never know you might find a lot of joy.” We could all do with some of that right now.
Victoria Moss's Wishlist
Knitted tabard, £225, jigsaw-online.com
Shearling cocoon coat, £2,000, jigsaw-online.com
Silk velvet dress, £399, jigsaw-online.com
Navy knitted sleeve jacket, £350, jigsaw-online.com
Yellow plissé top, £175, jigsaw-online.com
