When it comes to legacy, the seminal German fashion designer Jil Sander ‘doesn’t like to presume’ how others might perceive her impact. ‘But “modernity” says a lot,’ she considers. ‘It’s a word that is rarely used these days.’
Sander’s career, which began with the opening of a Hamburg boutique in 1968 and the presentation of her first eponymous womenswear collection in 1973, has been defined by a relentless pursuit of modernity, honing a rigorous and minimal working wardrobe, nonetheless influenced by the midcentury elegance of her parent’s generation. The title of the first Jil Sander fragrance, ‘Pure’, launched in 1979, is another hint as to how she views her approach to design. A counterpoint to the hedonistic, overblown glamour of the 1980s, Sander’s vision was seductive in the way she reduced a garment to its absolute essence. By the 1990s, the rest of the fashion world would catch up.
