Designer Jil Sander - the queen of Cashmere and Minimalism

The whole history of this brand is subject to non-obvious, but quite professional logic. Today, the name Gilles Zander is associated primarily with the nineties, the era of minimalism and androgyny, which, in fact, were the main trump cards of the previously not-so-famous designer from Germany. The world fell in love with Jil Sander for perfectionism, courage and uncompromisingness (the latter deprived us of the pleasure of wearing clothes created by Jil herself, but it is impossible to not respect this quality). She was one of the first to reject the decor - she began to work in the style of minimalism. It was important for her to show the essence of a person, and not to hide her behind a pile of embellishments. 

Jil began as an editor in a fashion magazine, then in 1967 (she was only 24) she opened her own store in Hamburg - she sold there clothes Sonia Rykiel and Thierry Mugler. Then she began to create clothes herself. Jil released the first full-fledged collection as a designer in 1973. And showed her on the catwalk in Hamburg. The show did not attract enough media attention, but failure only spurred perfectionist Sander. But already in 1985, Sander became the first German designer to showcase her collection in Milan. 

Her idea that the body, its forms and lines, the harmony given to it by nature, does not need decoration, but clothing that emphasizes its perfection, is already beginning to excite the minds of future fans of minimalism. By the beginning of the nineties, when Jil Sander opened a boutique in Paris, she was already a star! Over time, the public accepted and fell in love with uncompromising minimalism. 

Sander’s desire to do everything flawlessly affected the stores that opened all over the world one after the other were perfectly furnished, the staff behaved perfectly (Jil even drew up a code for the employees, in which everything was written, from the manner of addressing the client to the setting of the legs). 

Jil Sander grew and was sold on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 1989. The designer got the money received from this for Asian and North American expansion. In the wake of growth in 1999, Jil decided to sell a 75% stake in Prada Group. But no one could have imagined that for the brand it would be a fall.

Sander, who was not used to obeying anyone, suddenly found herself “under the wing” and under the control of the husband Meucci Prada Patrizio Bertelli. He advocated reducing the cost of production, expanding the size range - he wanted to be closer to the people. And the uncompromising Gilles refused to take into circulation lower quality fabrics. The conflict escalated to the point that in 2000, Sander first decided to leave. In connection with the resignation of the ideological inspirer, the brand suffered huge losses.

Soon after her departure from brand, Belgian Raf Simons was appointed to the post of creative director, the designer, not just close in spirit to Jil Sander, but almost exactly coincides with her in the development trajectory. Over the next seven years, the brand lived and developed in full accordance with the precepts of its founder. Over the next seven years, the brand lived and developed in full accordance with the precepts of its founder. But in 2012, he moved to Dior, and Jill Sander returned for the third time. 

But a miracle happened. Gil Sander returned, as if she hadn’t gone anywhere, and without interruption all these seven years she released her collections on this very site. No lag, no memories of the past that she always could not stand. 

At the moment, the last Sander project in fashion was her collaboration with the Japanese brand Uniqlo. Collections + J came out from October 2009 to February 2015 (the designer then released the best of line) and were incredibly popular. Despite all the vicissitudes, the Jil Sander brand has a lot of fans around the world, and laconicism and minimalism - as in a cut. 

“I never strive for abstraction. I work with a real body and look for solutions in its forms and proportions. This is my main concept, and that is why my clothes are absolutely organic” - Jil Sander.