Jil Sander to Take on Design Role at Uniqlo

[polishmike]

any photos of the mens stuff?

[mass]

[galia]

well that's pretty underwhelming
the black coat might be nice though, I'd have to try it on

[homi]

the fic pics actually look quite good, this is good stuff to wear to work or just fill in gaps in your wardrobe. i cant believe some of the posts in this thread.. just ridiculous

[lotek01]

it's pretty decent if you don't expect jil sander, but rather jil sander for uniqlo, which it is.

[Johnny]

it looks fine to me, very much what you would expect. dull but not bad, design is much better than average for "basics". quality will be duff, but that will be reflected in price. i think the issue is whether there is any point in jil sander without the quality, but this seems to suggest that there may be. ms sander has a well established history of selling out anyway, so no one should be surprised.

[Faust]

my point exactly - sander without quality = fail. the black coat is cute though (but will look like shit in real life most probably)

[Fade to Black]

the most jil sander thing from those pics are the chinos...just switch them to navy

given the context wouldn't even bother with any of the other stuff

[scott.m]

some magazine scans of this my friend sent me:

http://mensrag.com/2009/08/10/collaboration-rag-jil-sander-uniqlo-first-look/

[Faust]

Ad campaign

[Fade to Black]

the women's ad is not bad...feels like a Dior Homme circa Hedi shot though

[nutty07]

But one thing, the marketers of Uniqlo are genius by hiring The Sander...

[Faust]

So that was that.

From WWD.

TOKYO--Uniqlo and Jil Sander are parting ways.

Uniqlo said Thursday that Jil Sander's fall-winter collection for the +J label will be her last after a three-year run.

"With the recent completion of the design of the...fall and winter collection, Ms. Sander and [Uniqlo] agreed that they had fully explored the possibilities of their creative collaboration and accomplished what they had set out to do. Consequently, the two parties have decided to wrap up their design consulting agreement with this collection," Uniqlo, a unit of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., said in a release.

Hamburg-based Sander inked the design consulting agreement with Uniqlo in 2009 to creatively oversee its men’s and women’s apparel and launch a new dedicated collection. +J debuted in October 2009. Although the original agreement called for the designer to oversee almost all of Uniqlo's other product lines, that never really happened and instead Sander focused her efforts on +J.

At the time, the move was touted as the return of Sander to fashion after she had left the company that bears her name not once but twice as a result of disputes with the brand’s then-owner Prada.
Many considered the partnership as a new facet in fashion’s high-low trend, since Sander chose to take on a long-term role in the mass segment that aimed to redefine notions of value with premium quality clothes at democratic prices — rather than just do a one-season, limited collection as many of her peers have done.

“I wanted to have a new challenge and a new dream,” she said at the time her role at the Japanese firm was announced.

The +J collection allowed Sander to hone in the minimalist aesthetic that is considered her trademark, starting from the simple black logo in sans serif font to the pieces themselves, which ranged from long navy coats to hooded jackets and crisp white shirts.

Sander has a reputation for her quest for perfection and precision, and is considered to be difficult to please. Her collaboration with Uniqlo, however, got off to a strong start and after two collections, she decided to extend the contract indefinitely in April 2010.

“It’s very nice for me that they listen, that they understand, they go forward,” she said at the time. “It’s almost like destiny.”