Jil Sander Mens S/S 09 Milan

[Zazie]

Care to contradict the whole litany of reasons I gave for not liking this highly gimicky collection?

[Zazie]

Originally Posted by Jacque Marcel

^ i know, great minds right...?

Yeah! And the courage to voice an opposing opinion.

[Alejandro]

this collection is very prada. especially those triangle zipper pulls...

[ETROsexualJ]

A list with no substance holds packs no punch; but, yours are all the reasons that I like it.

The color blocking is a progression of what he's done in the previous Jil collections. The zippers/pulls (if YOU go back and read what I said) are in a way him flat out saying "This is me, I'm here, I'm not Jil."

The rouching and the volume are great as again they are the next step in what he's been doing at Jil since.

In all of these ways he is able to make the brand his own; but, with the clean lines, the precision tailoring and the easy wearability of it all it still channel Jil.

[mass]

i think it's okay; it seems rather uninspired. while i understand the transition from paying homage to the house to turning it into a brand of his own, i fail to see the point in making jil sander into something without any continuity, especially when this and the previous collection are in large parts rehashes of ideas from his own line. the footwear and the trousers--as they do every season--look very nice.

[Zazie]

Originally Posted by ETROsexualJ

A list with no substance holds packs no punch; but, yours are all the reasons that I like it.

The color blocking is a progression of what he's done in the previous Jil collections. The zippers/pulls (if YOU go back and read what I said) are in a way him flat out saying "This is me, I'm here, I'm not Jil."

The rouching and the volume are great as again they are the next step in what he's been doing at Jil since.

In all of these ways he is able to make the brand his own; but, with the clean lines, the precision tailoring and the easy wearability of it all it still channel Jil.

If he wants to say this is "Raf", great, show us that "Raf" is better than "Jil". Colour blocking is fine, as is neon, as are unusual jacket cuts, but I need to see colour-blocking done in a way that is different from all the ways colour blocking is done out there. That's what Jil's about. Eg., when she did neon, it wasn't just a colour, it was also how the material worked with the colour to bring out an effect of "neon", like an old Jil Sander neon vermillion top I had. It felt like the wearer is shrouded in translucent vermillion LIGHT, it's not just a loud vermillion top. Raf Simon tried that with his previous colour collection, the one with the Yves Klein blue and it worked. That's what's always so great about JS, her clothes are never simple, there is a level of difficulty in the way the cut, material, the construction all come together, yet they are not so *obvious* like this collection, and are always much more, yet they "look" minimal. I've seen colour-blocking done this way, the body "chopped" up horizontally in 2 or 3 blocks, so what's so different in the way he thought this one out, and more importantly, is it new, can it be done by H&M? My criteria is, can any of his ideas be mass produced by H&M, eg., zipper pulls as the main focus, and if they can, that's not Jil Sander.

Ok, take the geometric zipper pull - I'd respect the idea a lot more if they are placed in such a way as to add a punctuation to a colour block, like a constructivist visual piece. This is how colour blocking can be different, or a geometric pull can be different, more *meaning*, less gimmick.

Anyway, to each his or her own, but "lazy" because we don't like it? That's not always true, especially if you're a die-hard Jil Sander fan and you know why you're a fan.

[mass]

^ agreed!

[LP640]

Ugly.

[tricotineacetat]

most of the dislikes have already been raised and i can pretty much agree to what's been said before - to me, this is looking very contrived and too studied, in a way almost unrelated to a life aside editorial or runway use (and in that, not very Jil Sander at all). i can get one former assistant of his' telling me that the way he designs his collections is very graphic and sometimes unrelated to the body. but isn't that thought-process taking the brand in the entirely wrong direction? i thought what Jil herself was doing was a lot more at ease and way less cerebral and 'studied' as what Raf is throwing out these days.

[nqth]

The "block" at the waist brings "modern corset for men" to my mind

The prints looks quite Pradaish (pijama perhaps - this was what Prada used a while ago).

I think the whole wierdness of this collection look very Prada in a way. Ditto for Tricot's opinion that Jil was more relaxed, natural in her collections.

[BerlinRocks]

very arty x feminine collection, non ?
the colours ... i know we're in 2008, but colours (esp. those used there) are still the mark of women, the corset, the work of saharienne ...
+ it looks like a "masculine" version of what Raf did for women ss08 ...

block colours, "geometric abstraction", "neo-geo" whatever you want it to be named ... is still better on a canvas, that on men ... or at least i'm not ready for it ... though YSL already did it with the Mondrian collection ...

i love jil sander by raf simons, i love raf simons ... i love art ...
but this isn't my favourite collection ....... men body as a canvas ....

oh and i spot the same stripe on side of trousers than Dolce&G. ...
just hope it's not gonna be a big trend in Milan ... I just hate this !
but i can't lie : there are some things i like ....

[skot4mc]

Mullet thank you so much for taking the time to post the entire collection!
greatly appreciated.

[JuiceMajor]

Luving the fabric...

[mteb123]

I love it

[_spectre]

A lot of you raise interesting points and its so great to see opinions justified as opposed to a case of i love it or hate it. I think this is good, not his best work but some pieces are great (particularly the cerulean double breasted peacoat. with lapel detail. I agree The colour blocking itself isnt fresh but the colour combinations are nice and i dont mind the zips although the pulls remind me of playstation symbols. I think broken down a lot of this can be wearable although i probably dont know as much about buyers and what they pick up as some others on the board. I know its a "rehash" but the controlling of volume is excellent i think its a more accessible version of his parachute looking pieces from his ss08 mainline. All in all Raf is doing his thing and i cant wait to see what he brings with his own line. ha what lonnngg post!