2021 JANUARY
BOOK REVIEW -
FABRIC FOR FASHION
THE SWATCH BOOK
Written by Andrew Sia
ADVANCE YOUR DESIGN THINKING
She is one of Germany’s most well-known fashion designers and entrepreneurs. Was awarded the title of “Queen of Clean” by Women’s Daily. But she said: “Minimalism sometimes sounds too hollow”, So her “purism” changed the traditional aesthetics, Successfully created a powerful and pure modern style.
She founded the same name brand in the 60s, unique style, exquisite fabric, and neat cutting. As the founder, she left her job three times. The addition of designers such as Raf Simons has attracted the attention of the industry. Lucie Meier and Luke Meie have reborn the brand again.
The women she attracted, confident and tough, with a deep sense of self, It coincides with the design concept of “harmony, low-key and dynamic elegance“. Now we miss her, not only miss that pure age, It is the aesthetic meaning she has developed.
01 Queen of Clean
Jil Sander was born in Amt Büsum-Wesselburen in Germany in 1943 and received a degree as a textile engineer. Later, she worked as a reporter for McCalls magazine and German fashion magazine Constanze and Petra and ventured into the fashion industry. In 1968 Jil Sander started her own free design.
We learned that Jil Sander is more because of the label’s “minimalist” and “sex-free style“. She was awarded the title of “Queen of Clean” by Women’s Daily. It is worth mentioning that in the 1970s and 1980s, the fashion circle was dominated by romantic and luxurious styles. She resolutely injected pure simplification into the brand’s DNA from the early days of its establishment.
Some people say that Jil Sander’s abandonment of decoration is related to her being a German. The rigorous and paranoid requirement of pursuing perfection makes her design outstanding. But due to the influence of the social environment, her first fashion show released in 1973 was not taken seriously.
After experiencing the punk and hippie frenzy of the 1970s, until the 1980s, Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake and Rei Kawakubo dropped bombs on the fashion industry. Jil Sander’s persistence and unique taste received applause and the concept was also a great success. This also means that minimalism began to rise under the witness of fashion authority. At the end of the 90s, JIL SANDER became a powerful representative brand of minimalism.
“My aesthetic comes from what I appreciate in life, what I learn, and my perception of the times.”
– Jill Sander
Her source of inspiration can also be said to be the ultimate avant-garde. For the simple doctrine of post-war Germany, Jil Sander said: “When I was little , I observe the women around them, and that she who should be graceful, elegant and more powerful.” So, one of her inspiration is Zeitgeist (the spirit of the times, from German) feedback from the present, can be said to be the spirit of the time in post-war Germany, opening the chapter of her design career.
Jil Sander abandoned the gorgeous decorative details and replaced it with “stubborn” and precise cutting, raised waistline, extended shoulder shape, restrained colors, etc. She once explained her work in this way: “The Bauhaus Movement is my source of inspiration. It applies rational functions to the design of daily life.”
The Bauhaus style (modernism) is not only her source of inspiration, but also the core spirit of Jil Sander, confirming the brand ‘s design principles of ”harmony, low-key and dynamic elegance’. Not only now, but also in JIL Sander’s previous commercials, she can also perceive that she creates a connection between nature and clothing, using clothing as a language to express society and life.
02 Purist
Minimalism has never lacked fans since its birth. In Jil Sander’s clothing expression, even if there is a thread left, it is too simple. But Jil Sander is not blindly pursuing the “minimalist style” we mentioned today, or even dislikes the word. She just wants to be logical. The simplicity she pursues is in fact a kind of unquestionable purism.
“My work is more about the neutral look of both men and women. I have been exploring ways to make it easier to dress up as a professional woman. “
“When I design clothes, I always portray female images that match them in my mind. They are modern women full of feminine consciousness and self-esteem. “ – Jil Sander
She has never compromised whether it is in contemporary fashion or under the trend of vassalizing the market. Jil Sander is far away from the mainstream romantic women’s dress style, without exaggerating lines and adding details. The simple dress of both men and women runs counter to the tradition, but it is in line with her logic. What drove Jil Sander and fascinated her were always those pure and beautiful things.
“You see that her clothes have perfect lines on the shoulders. Many designers are pursuing simple tailoring, but the way is wrong”. – Liz Tilberis, Harper’s Bazaar edit
Jil Sander’s simplicity and competence are by no means confined to indifference, she makes the design more interesting on the minimalist aesthetics. Without the original design intention of pleasing and dispelling the hustle and bustle, it is not easy to get rid of the control of explosive models and traffic, and still gain such recognition from the industry.
People are full of doubts about how Jil Sander has left the brand three times to separate and combine with her own brand. The brand’s constant changes in coaches are also rekindling expectations amidst irreconcilable contradictions.
In 1968, Jil Sander founded the brand of the same name;
In 1973, Jil Sander’s first women’s collection appeared on the Milan show;
In 1997, launched the menswear collection;
In 1999, Prada acquired 75% of JIL SANDER’s shares. Six months later, the founder left the company and caused huge losses;
In 2003, Jil Sander returned to the company briefly;
In 2005, Raf Simons became the creative director of the brand;
In 2006, Change Capital Partners LLP acquired the brand from Prada;
In 2008, it was acquired by Japanese multi-brand fashion group Onward Holdings Co. Ltd. and its European subsidiary GIBO’CO. SpA;
In 2009, cooperated with Japan Uniqlo to design Uniqlo +J series;
In 2012, Raf Simons left and Jil Sander returned;
In 2014, Rodolfo Paglialunga served as creative director;
In 2017, when Luke & Lucie Meier took office, JIL SANDER returned to the original intention, which is refreshing.
During the period of Raf Simons, he chose to carry forward more than inheriting and renewing brand elements, and he added to Raf Simons’s own understanding of the brand. The most amazing and impressive one must be the JIL SANDER 2012 autumn and winter series, which is also his farewell show after 6 and a half years in power.
Raf Simons uses consistent clean lines and soft-colored fabrics to ensure that JIL SANDER’s rigorous restraint reveals a unique label that is pure and leisurely. The coat placket held by the model is free of any buttons and zippers, throwing away complicated decorations. Only showing people in a smooth and large profile, cannot help but sigh that this is too Jil Sander.
What is unforgettable is his own flower installation, decorating the last piece of work. Raf Simons flowers and tears remain in the historical traces of JIL SANDER forever , ensuring the purity of the brand.
If there are different interpretations of Jil Sander and subsequent designers’ works, the one thing that remains consistent is their “uncompromising“. Especially Jil Sander herself, out of business thinking, it is not an exaggeration to call her an artist who does not bow to business.
03 Remodeling and rebirth
Now the industry is talking about how the ups and downs of the brand JIL SANDER is reborn. Lucie Meier and Luke Meier undertook the rebranding process of JIL SANDER .
Inevitably, it must be the question of whether the style can be inherited: do the operators and the designers have the same concept? The difference in aesthetics and techniques between successors and creators will lead the brand in what direction. For this unknown, creative director husband and wife Lucie Meier and Luke Meier have proved their strength within two years at the helm.
“When I first stepped into clothing design, JIL SANDER was one of the most important brands in the 90s. Like Helmut Lang, JIL SANDER was a powerful symbol of New York in the 90s, when I just started my career. This brand always represents quality and completeness. I still think that these are the two most important values.” – Lucie Meier
Lucie Meier and Luke Meier’s resumes are quite outstanding: Lucie worked with Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton for five years, and then worked on designing for Balenciaga. Raf Simons personally selected and appointed her as the chief designer of Dior women’s couture and ready-to-wear series. Luke followed James Jebbia as the chief designer and worked for Supreme for eight years, and established his own menswear brand OAMC.
After they joined JIL SANDER in April 2017, they immediately grasped the brand’s unique femininity and continued to interpret the design in a very emotional way. To ensure the soul of design, clothing is not just a product. The external form derived from the soul is true and full.
“We want to create good things that can improve people’s lives. We think it’s more than just general product design. There must be a reason for us to bring something to this planet. It should stay somewhere for a long time. Not disposable.”
The JIL SANDER 2020 Spring/Summer collection is full of vitality. Lucie Meier and Luke Meier use flowing lines to frame a hard profile, and the cutting can also see the strength of rigidity and softness. With tassels, weaving, and hollow elements embellishment, the image and clothing after the reform come alive.
The 2019 early winter series will also be refreshing. The elegant tones and the seemingly inconspicuously simple silhouettes all show a sense of advanced alienation.
Regardless of the design direction, customer positioning, brand advertising and visual image of JIL SANDER , JIL SANDER has tried to change from the original minimalist Bauhaus style.
Under the leadership of the couple, JIL SANDER is full of vitality. The brand that was active in 1973, had its own Instagram account in 2017, and finally “broken the circle” and created a benign bond with consumers. At the same time, they launched a branch line with outdoor functional clothing as the main axis, and named it JIL SANDER+. Uphold the soul of simplicity, guarantee the most fundamental spirit of the brand, and give more functionality.
In recent seasons, JIL SANDER seems to be back on track under the attention of the public, ushering in the revival and rebirth of the brand. Crazy iteration did not make JIL SANDER truly lose the brand DNA. With subtle reforms and changes, it continued the philosophy created by the artist Jil Sander—showing us a complete and avant-garde picture of life.
Jil Sander created her 90s. “sexually cold wind” cannot describe the soul of her design. There is absolutely no complicated decoration in the simple purism. A small amount of coldness reveals a pure and leisurely attitude, but it is not cold. With her uncompromising persistence and avant-garde design vision, the warmth she brings tells us: Jil Sander is everything about you, no need to please others.