Jil Sander – Pure
Raf Simons consistently ups the intellectual bar each season at Jil Sander. He continues his exploration of couture and how it fits in today’s world. He ended his show with these four gowns in white. As tradition goes, couture shows often close with the bride. These very pure, beautiful gowns begin with Jil Sander’s love of a beautiful white shirt.
Raf Simons has been at the helm of Jil Sander for 6 years now. Season after season, he continues to respect Jil Sander’s aesthetic. With each collection, we see more and more of him and his new ideas. It’s now Mr. Simons’ very strong vision that carries the brand forward. In Milan, this is the collection I am always the most eager to see each season…. first to see how he embraces the house’s legacy and how he’s built his new ideas around them.
Photos courtesy of: Photo: Yannis Vlamos / GoRunway.com
Raf Simons is reacting to the recent invasion of designers in his campground of minimalism. He decided to stomp bravely into their turf…. maximalism. Stomp he did but with a clear vision and a very controlled hand. There was no hedonistic excess. His ideas of form and shape were based on modern couture.
Mr. Simons expressed, ” I thought about maximalism - its forms and shapes, with codes that could be brought to Jil Sander in a couture language.”
He played with the basic tee shirt shape on top and volume in controlled forms on the bottom in the form of long skirts. He switched on his presentation with a high voltage color palette. Grass greens, bright pink, flame orange, electric blue, hot purple, sizzle yellow, red-red… he inserted floral prints that looked as if it were bleeding through the fabric and then very bold stripes in colors to underline his measured steps outside of the box of what we have always expected at Jil Sander. He tossed familiar sportswear outerwear pieces like a lightweight parka over his parade of colors in the most unexpected combinations.
This collection is one of Raf Simons strongest for Jil Sander. This is a man who dares and leads fashion. He continues to guide the Jil Sander label forward and is always one of if not the most prophetic in Milan.
Photos: Monica Feudi / gorunway.com / Style.com
Crossing the Divide – Jil Sander
There are still f.w 2010 collections to write about from this past February and March but May and June came along and Resort and pre-collections for Spring 2011 sprang out of no where. I had the great opportunity to cross the divide from retail to wholesale and work in the showrooms of both Jil Sander in Milan and New York and then in Paris for Lanvin. Both incredibly enriching experiences.
Jil Sander, under the creative direction of Raf Simons, combined their market period for their Cruise and pre-Spring 2011 collections. Both were shown at the same time and if that wasn’t enough…. the company introduced the new Jil Sander Navy collection. A full on separate collection the company is targeting as a brand extension…. not a diffusion or secondary line. The target client is the Jil Sander woman and definitely provides for her younger sibling or daughter as well. The collection is skewed more towards her weekend and casual needs. The collection will deliver to your nearest store beginning in December 2010. It will be merchandised next to the collection in all stores that carry Jil Sander. The label will be the Jil Sander logo label but instead of the white background, it will be on…. NAVY. Unfortunately, I do not have any photos but here is a great write up on STYLE.COM and a photo or two on the newest offering from the world of Jil Sander. The collection is comprised of three deliveries and there are major stories of colors and prints… not the usual find at Jil Sander. All things do evolve.
The collection is under the creative directorship of Raf Simons and there is a separate design team dedicated to just this new label. Production for Jil Sander Navy will be under the roofs of the Italian manufacturer GIBO. ( producers of John Galliano, Rochas, etc ) The presentation to the buyers worldwide were held in the Milan showroom on Piazza Castello and then also in Soho in NYC where the Jil Sander store was closed to house the 3 collections for the US market appointments. Working with the team at Jil Sander was a great experience. I have bought this collection for both Bergdorf Goodman and Linda Dresner for the past 15 years in some capacity or another. So it was really interesting to learn the collection from behind the scenes. Working with stores on the other side of the table was particularly rewarding as I was able to use my experience as buyer and knowledge of the collection, both past and present, to help shape their buys. Full circle.
CELINE – Phoebe Philo’s triumph
Phoebe Philo proved once again that she has staying power. After all the accolades she received for her debut S.S 2010 show last season… what could she conjure up to equal if not top her last collection? Not a worry on her part. She stuck to the “Less is More” aesthetic she began with for Spring and marched forward and produced a tremendously strong Fall collection. Ms. Philo has mastered the art of purity but interpreting it in her own way. There were names tossed about after the show… Jil Sander, Helmut Lang… as they were two huge influences throughout Paris fashion week. Influenced… yes, but Ms. Philo has her own signature she is tagging the world with. Pure in it’s foundation but there’s a strength and an essence of luxe that beacons from deep within the fabrics and details of the clothes. The collection reeks of confidence. Less and simple are such small words…. but when those words can be followed by the words sexy, powerful and hyper-chic… they become stronger than any of the adjectives so often used in fashion vocabulary that have a connotation of frivolity. This is serious dressing at its best. The color palette was based on navy, army green, ivory and a bit of black. The clothes were covered up for the most part, save a leg baring slit here and there, but they still managed to exude a sexiness that was very potent but at the same time measured and calculated. It didn’t happen by chance. Just enough…. a collection filled with strong coats, the must have skirts and the right dresses. The flourishes were achieved with a touch of leather and a metallic heel on the shoes. Such restraint…. but breathtaking at the same time.
all photos DChen
All in all… the spotlight has found a new favorite to follow in Paris.
