April 29, 2009

Jil Sander FW09


Contemporary minimalism never worked so well as in a recession. Here is the woman Jil Sanders originally envisioned: purposeful, simplistic and extremely sharp. The pieces have a hint of Gareth Pugh's contemporary architectural influence-but no credit should be taken away. High fashion under the label has always been for hard working women, not first ladies and queens. It's a beautiful collection, because of its visual crispness and its elegance that goes without decoration. One thing that Raf Simmons succeeds in doing, that other designers who flirt with architecture miss, is allowing his woman to contain her silhouette under a transformable guise.