Jil Sander
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Since 1973, when Jil Sander—who had worked as a fashion editor and freelance designer in her native Germany—launched her line with a series of monochrome jackets and trousers, her name has been synonymous with minimalism. Early on, Sander mastered the basics (the perfect cashmere V-neck, the ultimate white shirt, the go-to pantsuit) and established a clientele that was fiercely loyal to her look: Verging on austere, it was always enlivened by intriguing cuts or experimental fabrics.
Born in 1943, Sander opened her first store in Hamburg in 1968 and began selling her own designs on the floor alongside major French labels. Famously private, she developed a reputation over the years as a perfectionist who needed to control the minutiae of her company, even dictating where sales personnel should stand in the boutiques.
That perfectionism, perhaps, partly accounts for her fashion firm being one of the most successful ever to emerge from Germany. Sander branched out into cosmetics and fragrance (with huge success) in 1979. In 1989, perfectly poised to ride the nineties wave of minimalism also exemplified by the Austrian Helmut Lang, she took the company public. Menswear was added in 1997.
In 2000, however, Sander sold her label to Prada in hopes, she said, of expanding her shoe and accessories businesses. But—perhaps unsurprisingly—she and Prada chief Patrizio Bertelli clashed, and Sander left after only four months. Then, in a turnaround that stunned the fashion world, she returned to the runway (under Prada's watch) in 2003; three highly successful collections later, she again departed, citing irreconcilable differences with Bertelli over the brand's financial future.
In 2005, the Belgian designer Raf Simons was appointed creative director. The following year, Prada sold the business to a British private equity company, and, in 2007, Jil Sander accessories at last debuted.
Raf Simons
When the avant-garde Belgian designer Raf Simons was named creative director at Jil Sander in 2005, following the acrimonious departure of the house's founder, he was a little-known entity outside the men's department. Sure, The New York Times had labeled him "the most influential designer in menswear in the last decade," crediting him with jump-starting the punky deconstruction so prevalent today among urban youth (suits cut small in the shoulders, the ubiquitous hoodie, the baggy-and-layered look). But when it came to designing women's clothing, he had virtually no track record.
Since debuting with a Fall 2006 runway collection, Simons has made great strides toward restoring the brand. He has adhered to house tradition, offering pared-down pantsuits and fine but unfussy knits—all with the subtleties of cut the Jil Sander faithful adore—but has added his own sophisticated touches: an asymmetrical collar here, a shortened bolero jacket there. Dresses also figure more prominently now at Jil Sander, from sleeveless navy sheaths to slinkier cocktail fare.
Something of a quick study, Simons had no formal training in fashion. He was a student of industrial design at the Antwerp Royal Academy before he launched his men's collection in 1995. Now, in addition to overseeing womenswear, menswear, accessories, and shoes at Jil Sander—and pursuing his passion for collecting art—he continues to design menswear under his own label, Raf Simons, and launched a more accessible line, Raf by Raf Simons, in 2006.
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