Jil Sander, S.p.A. is a

luxury Luxury may refer to: * Luxury goods, an economic good or service for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises *Luxury tax, tax on products not considered essential, such as expensive cars **Luxury tax (sports), surcharge pu ...

fashion house Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...

founded in 1968 in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and currently headquartered in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Founded by

Jil Sander Heidemarie Jiline "Jil" Sander (; b. 27 November 1943) is a German minimalist fashion designer and the founder of the Jil Sander fashion house. Early life and education Heidemarie Jiline Sander was born in Wesselburen, Nazi Germany on 27 Nov ...

, the brand is best known for its minimalist and clean designs. The brand was acquired by

Prada Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding t ...

in 1999 and

Sander A sander is a power tool used to smooth surfaces by abrasion with sandpaper. Sanders have a means to attach the sandpaper and a mechanism to move it rapidly contained within a housing with means to hand-hold it or fix it to a workbench. Woodwo ...

subsequently departed her eponymous label due to creative differences.Petra Kapp
Designer In Reticence"
nytimes.com, 26 May 2002. After several changes of ownership, the Jil Sander brand was acquired by Italian fashion group OTB in March 2021. Luke and Lucie Meier were named co-creative directors of Jil Sander in 2017, succeeding Rodolfo Paglialunga. In 2017 Ubaldo Minelli, CEO of

OTB Group Only The Brave, S.p.A., commonly known as OTB Group, is an Italian holding multinational corporation specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Breganze. The company was founded in 2002 by Renzo Rosso as a holding company for Diesel and f ...

, was appointed CEO of the brand.

History

Founded by

in 1968, the company's first womenswear collection was launched in 1973, menswear followed in 1997.style.com - Jil Sander
/ref>nymag.com - Jil Sander
/ref> From 1974 sold her own collections alongside fashion by

Sonia Rykiel Sonia Rykiel (; ; 25 May 1930 – 25 August 2016) was a French fashion designer and writer. She created the Poor Boy Sweater, which was featured on the cover of French ''Elle'' magazine. Her knitwear designs and new fashion techniques led her t ...

Thierry Mugler Manfred Thierry Mugler (; 21 December 1948 – 23 January 2022) was a French fashion designer, creative director and creative adviser of Mugler. In the 1970s, Mugler launched his eponymous fashion house; and quickly rose to prominence in the fo ...

and others. The first fragrance – Woman Pure – was launched in 1979.Genevieve Buck (September 14, 1994)
Jil Sander Designs Expansion
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

''. During those years, all of the brand's boutiques were designed by New York architect

Michael Gabellini Michael Gabellini (born in 1958), FAIA, is a minimalist architect, interior designer and partner of Gabellini Sheppard Associates with Design Partner, Kimberly Sheppard and Consulting Partner, Daniel Garbowit. A Fellow of the American Institute ...

. The first men's perfume, Jil Sander Man Pure, followed in 1981. The company went public in 1989; in the process,

herself sold a one-third ownership for $56 million while retaining control over the voting shares. Jil Sander Fall 2011

In the 1980s Sander presented her collections at the Milan fashion shows. With fashion alone, the company made a turnover of 20 million marks in 1981. In 1989 the company was converted into a stock corporation and was listed on the

Frankfurt stock exchange The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (german: link=no, Börse Frankfurt, former German name – FWB) is the world's 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time). Organisation Locat ...

. Flagship stores were built in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

, and Sander worked on the design in collaboration with renowned architects such as

. In 1993 a flagship store was added on

Avenue Montaigne Avenue Montaigne () is a street in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Origin of the name Avenue Montaigne was originally called the Allée des Veuves (widows' alley) because women in mourning gathered there, but the street has changed muc ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. The 1990s are considered to be the heyday of the Jil Sander brand. In 1992, the designer Roberto Menichetti was hired as Sander's assistant for the women's collection. The collaboration between Jil Sander and Puma from 1996 onwards goes back to his and Sanders' designs - the designer sneaker King was first presented in 1996, the Easy Rider model followed in 1997. In 1997, Jil Sander launched the men's fashion collection. Menichetti also contributed these designs. Men's fashion soon contributed around 20 percent to group sales. In 1999,

Prada Group Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding ...

bought a 75% share in the company. Six months later,

departed the company, and it suffered serious financial setbacks. She returned briefly in 2003. In May 2005, it was announced that

Raf Simons Raf Jan Simons (; born 12 January 1968) is a Belgian fashion designer. Beginning in furniture design, Simons launched his own menswear label in 1995. He was creative director at Jil Sander (2005–2012), Christian Dior (2012–2015), and Calvin K ...

had become

creative director A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...

for the women's and men's collection. Simons wanted to "strip it down so there was nothing that wasn't necessary".

Suzy Menkes Suzy Peta Menkes (born 24 December 1943) is a British journalist and fashion critic. Formerly the fashion editor for the International Herald Tribune, Menkes also served as editor, Vogue International, for 25 international editions of ''Vogue'' ...

, the principal fashion writer for the ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...

'', said that some items in the collection "made exceptional pieces" but overall it "was not as strong as before." The Fall/Winter collection, however, received accolades from ''IHT''. Simons' first women’s collection was shown at

Milan Fashion Week Milan Fashion Week ( it, Settimana della moda) is a clothing trade show held semi-annually in Milan, Italy. The autumn/winter event is held in February/March of each year, and the spring/summer event is held in September/October of each year. It ...

in 2006. The collection received a positive review from the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' and the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''.

In 2006,

private equity firm A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leve ...

Change Capital Partners LLP bought the company from

. At that point, the ''Telegraph'' reported that the company was in better shape financially.

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Patrizio Bertelli Patrizio Bertelli (born 6 April 1946), is an Italian billionaire businessman, and the former co-chief executive officer (CEO), with his wife Miuccia Prada, of Prada Group. As of March 2022, his net worth was estimated at US$4.5 billion. Life an ...

said: "As we focus on the development of the

and

Miu Miu Miu Miu is an Italian high fashion women's clothing and accessory brand and a fully owned subsidiary of Prada. It is headed by Miuccia Prada and headquartered in Paris, France. History Miu Miu was established in 1992 by Miuccia Prada. The name ...

brands, I am certain that Change Capital Partners will be able to provide the necessary investment to further grow the Jil Sander business."

remained

at Jil Sander. In September 2008, the Jil Sander brand was purchased by Onward Holdings Co. Ltd. (), a Japanese multi-brand

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

conglomerate, and its European subsidiary GIBO' CO. S.p.A. for about US$244 million. Also in 2008, the company entered into licensing agreements with Marchon Eyewear to produce and distribute men’s and women’s eyewear and with Albisetti to produce innerwear and beachwear. In March 2021,

acquired 100 percent of the Jil Sander brand.Luisa Zargani (March 5, 2021)
OTB Acquires Jil Sander Brand
''

Women's Wear Daily ''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion".Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides infor ...

''. In September 2021, Ubaldo Minelli, CEO of OTB, was also appointed CEO of the brandhttps://wwd.com/business-news/human-resources/jil-sander-new-ceo-1234926375/.

Designers

: 1968–2000, 2003–2004, 2012–2013 *

Milan Vukmirovic Milan Vukmirovic (born 1970) is currently Editor-in-Chief and Founder of FASHION FOR MEN bookmazine and Menswear Creative Director of Ports 1961, since 2015. Early life and education Born in Chantilly, France in 1970 to a Serbian family, Vukmiro ...

: 2000–2003 *

: 2005–2012 * Pauric Sweeney: 2005–2012 * Rodolfo Paglialunga: 2014–2017 * Lucie Meier and Luke Meier: 2017–present

Locations

As of August 2022, Jil Sander operates 42 stores in Europe, Asia, and North America, including in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, Zurich,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Recognition

* 2011 –

Design Museum The Design Museum in Kensington, London exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won the European Museum of the Year Award. The museum operates as a registered charity, and all funds generat ...

's Brit Insurance Design Award

References

External links