Careful Proportions at Jil Sander

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan.

Jil Sander, SS15, Milan.

For the Jil Sander Spring-Summer 2015 collection, basic garment shapes such as shorts, shirts, skirts and trousers were layered to create clean, functional looks. As is often the case when designers reinvent the basics, the newness of the collection came in the form of design tweaks to the fabrics and details. In particular, the proportions of the garments were carefully balanced with horizontal lines consistently drawn across the body by rolled shirt cuffs and dropped waistbands.

By playing with the proportions in this way, the wearer often appeared longer in the torso, with no focus given to the natural waist line of the models. Design decisions were often layered to exaggerate this long, lean silhouette. For example, trousers, shorts and skirts were often cut with lower waistbands, which were then finished with long narrow belt loops, allowing the belt to sit very low down on the hips. Sleeve lengths were also carefully considered with the majority of sleeves finishing at elbow level, either by design, or through styling.

As this was Rodolfo Paglialunga’s first catwalk collection as creative director of Jil Sander, it was fitting that he chose Annemarie Schwarzenbach» as his reference point. As a Swiss photographer and writer from the 1930s, Schwarzenbach appears to have had the aesthetic of the quintessential Jil Sander woman, with a personal style which is simultaneously strong and delicate, nonchalant and considered.

In terms of construction, many of the details continued in the minimal style that we have come to expect from Jil Sander collections with the garments finished very cleanly, such as the oversized patch pockets with were attached “blind”, without any topstitching. The dropped waist silhouettes also gave space for different design details in the gap between the position of the natural waist and the lowered garment waistband. This space lead to experiments with drawstrings, twisted belts and occasionally elasticated waistbands that appeared like a reference to boxer shorts.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 1. Shorts cut with wide legs and dropped crotch.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 2. Counterchange colourways.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 3. Polo shirts layered over shirts.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 4. Broken line work trimmed with rib knit.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 5. Blues and reds used throughout the collection.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 6. Dropped shoulder widens the shoulder line.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 7. T-shirt shape with dropped shoulder and wide elbow length sleeves.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 8. Split skirt silhouette.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 9. Shorts appear to be seamed rather than simply creased.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 10. Trousers sit low on the hips.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 11. Belt loops hold belt lower on hips.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 12. Zip jacket with elasticated waist.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 13. Large pockets attached blind, without topstitching.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 14. Added panel sometimes referred to as a flange.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 15. Twisted waist detail.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 16. Elasticated waistband.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 17. Patch pockets sit low on zip front jacket.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 18. Elasticated waist detail.

Careful Proportions at Jil Sander | The Cutting Class. Jil Sander, SS15, Milan, Image 19. Drawstring waist detail.

Images from Jil Sander»

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