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Jil Sander

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This article is about the fashion designer Jil Sander. For the fashion house of the same name, see Jil Sander AG.
File:Jil.jpg
Jil Sander Corporate Logo

Jil Sander is a minimalist German fashion designer. Her work descends from that of Coco Chanel, as opposed to the bleeding-edge esthetic of Lagerfeld and Gaultier or the trendiness of sportswear design, as exemplified by the like of Giorgio Armani and Calvin Klein.

Aesthetic

Her trademark look, a somewhat New Look for women conquering executive positions in the 1980s, was that of a cut pantsuit, a form-fitting coat or a slim blouse made of materials in plain grey, black, blue or white. The fact that her creations were coordinates which could all be easily combined with each other became a popular characteristic. She created the so-called onion look (Zwiebel-Look) layering various pieces of clothing in one outfit. She has been described as the Queen of Less, Cashmere-Queen, Master of Minimalism, Cool Blonde, Gentle-Jil or Fashion Reductionist.

History

Jil Sander, born Heidemarie Jiline Sander in Wesselburen near Hamburg, Germany, on 27 November 1943, grew up with her mother near Hamburg and later studied textile design in Krefeld from where she graduated as a textile engineer in 1963. Having spent two years as an exchange student at University College in Los Angeles, she worked as a fashion editor at German women's magazine Petra before opening her first boutique in a Hamburg suburb in 1967. She started out selling fashion designed by Thierry Mugler or Sonia Rykiel and also a few of her own designs. And, with few ups and downs, she founded her eponymous fashion house, Jil Sander GmbH in 1968, at the age of 24.

Showing her collection in Paris in 1975 proved a complete failure, though. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the fashion world was dominated by lavish, colorful and glitzy Dynasty-style designs by the likes of Claude Montana with his broad-shouldered leather look, Jil Sander's minimalist collections, with a focus on fabric quality came close to a revolution in the fashion world and were not accepted next to the Parisian catwalks. Her tyle only started gaining attention in the 1990s.

Success and expansion

In the years after 1978 she revolutionized the industry by marketing her first perfume with a campaign that prominently featured her own face. The internationally successful cooperation with Lancaster Cosmetics allowed her financially to run ads in glamorous magazines on a large scale for her fashion. Later, licenses would be given for eyewear and leather accessory lines. In 1985, it was decided that her collections would be shown in Milan to more efficiently tackle the international markets. As a result, sales were steadily increasing. More fragrances were added to the cosmetics line, and the label's luxurious minimalism proved to be the hit of the mid to late 90's.

Jil Sander AG went public in 1989 and was sold to shareholders on the Frankfurt stock exchange. Jil's fashion house was among the first to venture on such a step. She used the new capital to expand in Asia and North America. Her tremendous success overseas resulted in palatial flagship stores in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Taipei among many others, whose interior furnishings gobbled up millions. Ms. Sander personally overlooked the design of her stores and strict guidelines were implemented for the sales staff on how to behave and where to stand in the boutiques. At the Paris store, opened in 1993, the Jil Sander collections could be shown on more than 9000 square feet and four floors. The space at Avenue Montaigne in Paris used to be French fashion designer Madeleine Vionnet's atelier and showroom, a designer whose work has influenced Sander's. In 1998 Jil Sander and German sportswear house Puma jointly launched a successful sneakers collection.

New ownership

Jil Sander's success continued into the mid-1990s. Her company survived the economic crisis in Asia. She found success with a newly launched men’s collection that had been postponed several times before in 1997 and was described as "precision-cut with an emphasis upon light fabrics." A desire with Ms. Sander to concentrate more on the creative design rather than the business, resulted in much praise and acclaim from the critics. Nevertheless, Jil needed a financially strong partner realizing that her company was steadily growning. Jil Sander AG was no longer a small privately owned business.

In 1999 Prada Group bought a 75% share in her company. Ms. Sander, remained creative designer and became chairwoman in the new joint venture. Six months later, in January 2000, Ms. Sander unexpectedly left after confrontations with Prada CEO Patrizio Bertelli, a quick-tempered Italian businessman. She, an uncompromising perfectionist, refused in using cheaper materials and at bringing the traditionally slim fits in line with standard sizes. Mr. Bertelli had demanded of Jil, some very drastic cost cuts and a more affordable mainstream approach. Bertelli also insisted on giving up the contributary workshops in Germany in favor of the shops in Italy owned by Prada. Thus, for the first time in many years, Ms. Sander was able to indulge in extensive travelling, sailing, going to the opera and taking care of her gardens after her resignation but the fashion house floundered without Sander.

Comeback and abandonment

Sander returned to the company as head designer and partner in a surprise decision in May 2003, after her noncompete clause had expired. Bertelli had reportedly begged her to come back.[citation needed] Her return was celebrated unanimously by the international press. Sander's designs, bearing the Jil Sander signature with a more feminine look, were a hit with both customers and critics. Designing two collections which were both showcased in Milan, Sander altered Vukmirovic’s existing sketches for the men’s collection, redesigned some of the boutiques and audited the books herself.

However, in November 2004, Ms. Sander agreed to terminate cooperation with Prada and resigned from her post again after insurmountable differences with Mr. Bertelli.

Since 2005, the line has been designed by Raf Simons.

Boutiques

  • New York- 1042 Madison Avenue (Opened 2007)
  • New York (SoHo)- 30 Howard Street (Opening Spring, 2008)
  • Manhasset- Americana Manhasset
  • Chicago- 48 E. Oak Street (Opened 1994)
  • Paris- 56 Avenue Montaigne (Opened 1993; extensively renovated 2007)
  • London- 7 Burlington Gardens (Closed 2005- new location planned)

Trivia

  • Ms. Sander was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz, the German equivalent of the Order of Merit, by the Federal Republic of Germany for her achievements in the fashion industry.
  • Ms. Sander was known for both her shy appearances in public and her power mania trying to bring everything under her control behind the scenes. She would rarely give interviews and not talk about her private life, a trait that only cultivated the myth about her person, and at the same time she would buy the rights to pictures about her in order to be able to control her public image and meticulously plan all the steps in her company where she was used to being the boss.
  • For her notorious (and sometimes ridiculous) habit of mixing German and English words into gibberish sentences when being interviewed in German in the 1990s she was awarded the title of Sprachpanscher ( Sprache = language, panschen = to adulterate) by the Association of German Language (Verein Deutsche Sprache) in 1997.
  • Ms. Sander currently resides at her estate in Hamburg where she also maintains a city office. She is also said to have bought an apartment in Berlin-Willmersdorf and supposedly spends most of her free time on her favorite leisure pursuit, gardening. She lives with her longtime companion Dickie Mommsen.
  • In May 2006, a 33-year old female stalker from Bochum that had threatened to kill Ms. Sander and her companion for almost five years over the phone and in writing was sentenced by a German court to 15 months in jail, although there was no anti-stalking law in Germany at the time and the prosecution had thus only claimed a suspended sentence of six months. The convict, who labored under the delusion to have fallen in love with Jil Sander, was deemed a danger to the public and will be admitted to a psychiatric ward. Ms. Sander herself did not appear in court.

Pictures of Jil Sander

Sources

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