Jil Sander

It is possible to assume to that there isn’t a single fashionphile who does not recognize the name Jil Sander, but the real question is how much do they truly know of the brand when she was at the helm designing the collections? This is the concept behind Jil Sander.

Do not expect a glossy catalog of Ms. Sander’s oeuvre. Instead what the reader can expect is insight into the mindset and mentality of one of the 20th century’s most iconic and well known designers. Readers need to take note that this book also serves as a catalog for her first ever exhibition Jil Sander Present Tense. The show was mounted in November of 2017 and is currently on display until May 2018 at Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt.

This reviewer came away with the sense that this book might be compared to more of a bound mood board rather than a gallery of complete images of one style at a time. The book is an extremely intimate and somewhat intellectual explanation and examination of Ms. Sander’s work and what she stands for when it comes to every single item that bears her name.

Ms. Sanders is the poster child for a designer who is totally immersed in her brand. In other words, this is not your run of the mill fashion genre coffee table book; this is a very particular monograph that offers much more than just visual stimulation.

“One of Jil Sander’s most outstanding virtues as a designer is her creative eye, constantly nourished by contemporary architecture, art and design, and thus, instantly able to detect unbecoming excess in any form.”

If minimalism is high on your fashion priorities list then this is a book that must  be read and dissected, as she might well have been one the first designers to popularize the idea of such pared down and unadorned fashion. If that concept is extrapolated it might be safe to say that she took the 60s version of pared down and reimagined it for the next generation of fashion consumers.