Return Of Jil Sander (Picture)

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In the past, Jil Sander used precious fabrics to make high-end fashion with simple style. Today, it endows affordable clothing with unprecedented high quality. No matter how the trend of the times and personal circumstances change, she has always insisted on making "the purest clothes".

　　
Jil Sander, 67, is still beautiful. The Nordic blue eyes remind people of the lake under the sun, and the light blonde hair stretches naturally like a tendril plant.

　　
In her childhood, which was also called Heidemarie JilineSander, she hated her mother's untidy curls and twisted braids. However, she likes watching her mother step on a sewing machine to make trousers and matching corduroy shirts. At the age of 24, she inherited her mother's sewing machine. It was 1968, and she founded the Jil Sander brand. Since then, the mother has been wearing clothes designed by her daughter.

　　
"I fell in love with pants very early." She recalled that after World War II, the teacher of the women's school she attended did not approve of this subversive new dress. "Whenever I wore a skirt to class, she would smile."

　　
Forerunner

　　
Jil Sander is a sensitive and strong woman, with German perseverance and meticulousness. In 1975, her first Paris release show did not go off without a bang. However, in the magnificent 1980s, her purist style of going against the trend gradually took hold in the fashion industry and was regarded as an alternative model. In the late 1980s, her company was successfully listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

　　
Jean Jacques Picart, a French fashion consultant, recalled that he participated in the planning of the Jil Sander Paris debut show: "flowing and simple, cashmere elastic fabric, silk, such as the second layer of skin fabric, focusing on knitted clothes and overcoats - as well as the young model Ins de laFresange wearing a boy style trousers suit."

　　
"She appeared too early - in the days of Thierry Mugler, Claudia Montana and Emanuel Ungaro, her style was hard to accept," Picart said pointedly.

　　
Jil Sander thought the show was a complete failure. Only in 1993, 18 years later, when she opened a landmark minimalist shop on Montaigne Avenue, did she get a kind of compensatory satisfaction.

　　
Recluse

　　
After entering the 21st century, Jil Sander's career suffered a downturn, especially the dispute with Prada Group, which almost made her disappear. In August 1999, Prada bought 75% of the equity of Jil Sander. Only half a year later, she resigned as president and chief designer of the company. More dramatically, in 2003, she returned to her post and signed a six-year contract with Prada, but a year and a half later, the two sides parted ways for the second time. Since then, the Jil Sander brand that has changed owners several times has no real connection with its founder.

　　
Jil Sander is now silent about her Prada era. It is impossible to find out whether the divergence point was aesthetics or money. She sums it up to one sentence: the volatility of the fashion world controlled by big consortia.

　　
She worked as a hermit for four years until Uniqlo, also from a big financial group, came to her. At that time, she had just set up her own fashion consulting company. To her delight, this time she did not need to repeat the old way she had gone through in the high-end fashion industry. She became the first famous designer in history to design affordable fashion brands with all her heart. It's like a redemption, or a revolution. After launching the+J series for Uniqlo, no one will ask: "Why are your clothes so expensive?" Now they are not only inexpensive, but also good or bad. Everyone has a say.

　　
Purist

　　
Joe McKenna, a stylist who has worked with Jil Sander for many years and now also participates in+J series advertising, said that her working style in Uniqlo is no different from that in the past. "The same accuracy, the same strict standard - every stitch, every button is exquisite." McKenna, who has witnessed the+J fitting process many times, said.

　　
Jil Sander is quite satisfied with the+J autumn series which will be launched in September. The well cut ginger coat, the fashionable cornflower blue hooded coat and coat all sell for less than 1000 yuan. In the summer series on sale, the price of light and thin hooded coat and corduroy trousers is also within 500 yuan.

　　
She herself now often wears+J white shirt and navy jacket, which match her Jil Sander old trousers perfectly - this is her landmark dress that has not changed for many years. "I have devoted all my enthusiasm and experience to+J," she said. "Maybe I am destined to design for more people. I think it is a bit like a gift for me."

　　
She doesn't like the idea of "cheap". She focuses on functionality and unity, and reflects her consistent design style with clean lines and meticulous details. "My mother used to say that we were too poor to buy expensive things." Her childhood was spent in Hamburg, Germany, which was ravaged by war. Like many young people in the port city at that time, she fled to Los Angeles, the United States, went to UCLA, and then ran to New York to become a fashion reporter. At the age of 21, due to the sudden death of her father, she returned to her hometown and founded the brand three years later.

　　
She also doesn't like being defined as a "minimalist". "I prefer to call it 'pure' - minimalism sounds empty," she said. In 1980, she named a new perfume Pure.

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Winners

　　
Some people say that Uniqlo is a lifesaving straw for Jil Sander. Although she was not down and out after retirement, it was hard for her to lose the focus of her career. She also admitted: "The company is my home, just like going to boarding school, you never feel lonely." After splitting up with Prada, Jil Sander once cured himself by yoga and sports. "She was deeply hurt," one of her friends once said.

　　
"I realized early that the fashion industry is dangerous and unfathomable," she said, because of the German personality, she could not be as sophisticated as the American designer.

　　
As time passed, Jil Sander, who had been rejuvenated, said that she was "very energetic, happy and childish." The success of the+J series surprised her. She was even a little surprised that Uniqlo China factory, which she had never visited personally, could present her design concept so perfectly.

　　
In April this year, Jil Sander renewed her three-year contract with Uniqlo, which means that she will design clothes for the general public at least until she is 70 years old. Q: In the four years from quitting the fashion industry in 2004 to cooperating with Uniqlo in 2008, have you completely stopped your design work?

　　
A: Before I started to design+J, I had been paying attention to the fashion industry with a pair of designer's eyes. During this time, I traveled around and became interested in gardening. At the same time, I learned to negotiate with people. I always want to return to the fashion industry, just to choose an ideal opportunity.

　　
Q: What made you finally choose Uniqlo, a cheap brand?

　　
A: Under current circumstances, Uniqlo is the most appropriate choice. The high-end fashion industry is at a crossroads. Big groups are a bit outdated, and the creativity is constantly repeated, and it is flashy. I want to have a new start and a clear goal. The definition of the so-called modern basic clothing is still very confused, and this field needs to be broken through. I always advocate simple lines and smart cutting, so it is a natural challenge to try to design a popular clothing line. I want to try to get the highest quality.

　　
Q: What do you think of fast fashion? In an industry where even luxury brands have launched fashionable clothes and handbags with only one season of success, how can your affordable basic models gain more long-term vitality?

　　
A: The classic tailoring also needs continuous improvement and innovation to keep fresh and attractive. I'm not going to shut out the trend. What I pay more attention to is how to maintain the self consistency of a series. It must be a series with clear concept and natural evolution. I hope+J will live longer than the popular clothes of the season, and at the same time, I hope it will become a balance element in today's mix and match trend.

　　
Q: You have always been very particular about fabrics. In the past, you always invited fashion editors to touch those expensive fabrics backstage and feel their value. Do you feel uncomfortable when you use cheap fabrics to make clothes?

　　
A: Of course, luxury fabrics are beyond the reach of affordable brands. Sometimes, I think we create miracles. We carry out a lot of fabric research and development work, and the huge order volume also allows us to get high-quality fabrics at an incredible price.

　　
Q: For men's and women's clothing, your design standards are quite uniform. In your opinion, is the gender boundary of clothing not so important?

　　
A: I have been more interested in men's clothing since I was young. No matter the fabric, cutting or color, men's clothing is not as fragile and capricious as women's clothing. Therefore, my design takes on a androgynous trait. However, I also like feminism, which is confident, cool and sophisticated.

　　
I really think that the boundary between men's and women's clothing will become blurred. Men are more and more concerned about fashion and eager to wear personalized fashion, while women are pursuing certain unified styles, whether it is sweet girls, jeans and Chanel jackets, gothic, or anything else. However, there are also some women who dress assertively. Mature and personalized clothes are often associated with a successful and independent lifestyle. I hope to provide people with clothes that emphasize personal charm, character and wisdom, but not gender.

　　
Q: Do you always seem more inclined to draw inspiration from artistic genres than to pay homage to a certain era in the past?

　　
A: Bauhaus architecture has the most profound influence on my design. In fact, it is not just me. It has a very wide influence. I am very interested in art in all periods. I found that no matter in which era, there are similar principles for perfection, including proportion and symmetry, as well as the pursuit of rival craftsmanship.

　　
Q: As a German, you have close working contacts with Italy and Japan. Can you adapt to these two countries?

　　
A: In spirit, I am closer to Italians. At first, Japan had a great impact on my culture. I had to work hard to adapt to the complicated class relations there, the underlying rules of communication, and the social status of Japanese women. But from a professional point of view, I feel very comfortable. The Japanese highly value quality and creativity, and Uniqlo is also a company that can adapt to new things. Moreover, Japan also has many traditional crafts worth developing, learning and innovating.

　　
In Italy, everything is more private. Italian family businesses are good at luxury goods. Uniqlo gives me the opportunity to try more mass production design, which is both a burden and an opportunity. In the past, I hoped to combine the advantages of the two fashion cultures. We have started to cooperate with Italian fabric manufacturers.