Raf Simons Out at Jil Sander, Founder Will Return to Her Label

[thejarc]

As previous posters have pointed out, JS usually looked great on the runway but what ended up in the stores was rather plain. Also I have heard people complaining about quality and fit. So i really hope Jil is going to use tip notch fabrics is going to improve the fit as she used to.

 

[Ives927]

My experience with Jil products have been great. The quality in my opinion is top notch. Everything is well constructed and the fabrics are nice. Depending on what you buy, the fit can be larger. I have the short-sleeve floral shirt from SS11 and the fit is perfection.

 

[Marc10]

We Are All Guilty for This Mess
By SUZY MENKES

MILAN — The current state of fashion, with designers enticed to houses where they may be rejected, removed and re-embraced, leaves a queasy feeling.

The drama that started almost exactly a year ago with the breakdown and departure of John Galliano from Dior has spread across the fashion universe.

The moving end to Raf Simons’s seven years at Jil Sander dominated the Milan scene over the weekend as much as the news that Ms. Sander herself will be returning.

Speculation now has Yves Saint Laurent taking on Hedi Slimane, who was a designer choice to follow the original maestro. The idea that Mr. Slimane, who has followed a photographic career since his departure from Dior Homme, would move back to YSL, where he once designed men’s wear, has created yet-another firestorm across the cybersphere.

Caught in this maelstrom are the designers. By their nature artistic and fragile people, they see themselves treated like commodities, bought and dispensed with as the corporate house pleases.

There is a reason that long-serving fashion executives have been replaced in recent years by chief executive officers whose history is in ice cream, yogurt or other marketable products. With a global society hungry for luxury, distribution and supply chains are now as important for executives as a hands-on feel for products.

But not all the blame can be put on the corporate conglomerates, who have, like a flood tide, been inundating family-run houses. In Italy, La Familia just about hangs in there, hoping that each generation will serve up a smart son or daughter. But it is increasingly hard for small Italian brands to keep a mom-and-pop business going, especially when China’s industrial base for fashion will soon outstrip Italy’s.

Designers, too, are not blameless victims of the new deal. They have also become commoditized, picking the right lawyer to fight for sky-high salaries and sweet treatment as if they were Hollywood stars.

Cut off from reality, as Mr. Galliano was and many others still are, in the world of first-class travel and the chauffeur at the door, they find themselves enmeshed in a web of their own making.

They are too used to a lifestyle that has brought them fabulous apartments filled with contemporary art and photography to break out of this lush gilded cage, where they are obliged to dance again and again: fashion show, store opening, midseason presentation, second line, media interviews, team meeting, ad shoots, global travel. Smile, smile, smile — and rock until you drop.

Then there are us, the journalists surrounded by a sea of bloggers. The Twitter world magnifies and distorts reality, as I found out last autumn when my speculation, based on sound information, that Raf Simons had been talking to Yves Saint Laurent people was transformed by the Twitter world into a done deal.

No grain of gossip is too small to grow into a mighty story.

Designers in the past have fought with the “suits” and turned to alcohol and drugs. Why do things seem such a mega-drama today, ending any chance of a sad situation being resolved with dignity?

The natural end of an era, as designers whose houses bear their names grow old and pass away, combined with the arrival of digital cameras and Internet exposure, has created a perfect storm.

Fledgling designers need investment — but how much easier it is to put them in a dead man or woman’s shoes, perhaps also backing the new designer’s namesake line, but only as what the French call a “danseuse,” a plaything.

Karl Lagerfeld’s success at Chanel and Fendi (if not with his own various lines) is the template. Marc Jacobs is one of the rare designers who has fought and won, from LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the right to build a global empire in his own name. Yet when he was approached to take over at Dior, he reportedly asked for too much in return.

If designers suffer, what about the toiling teams behind them? They are mostly unknown — loved and hand-picked by a designer, yet abandoned or even thrown out after a change of leadership.

The situation is not universally toxic. The collaboration between Donatella Versace and Christopher Kane with his sister Tammy is a sweet reminder of the Gianni Versace/Donatella years. But what if — as the rumor mill claims — Mr. Kane has been put up for the Dior job? There will be yet another round of musical chairs.

As a journalist, I cannot help imagining with excitement a new era with a face-off between Hedi Slimane at YSL and Raf Simons at Dior — a magnificent battle of style and wills to echo the Armani/Versace, Gucci/Prada or even Chanel/Schiaparelli face-offs of earlier years.

But I remind myself that this is not a game of chess. And that real people — especially sensitive designers — deserve not to be treated as pawns in someone else’s game.

nytimes

 

[rip_ian curtis]

Once again he designed something exquisite, something a sane person cannot diss, but what makes me to hate this beautiful collection once again is that he does something like this under the Jil Sander name. I understand that it's a good direction not trying to be Jil Sander when you're not, but to make something that is so out of the line with the values and a type of dressing the founder of the label promoted, is just wrong and disrespectful - both towards the founder and the loyal customers who helped to build up the brand. I wonder if the brand has any of the old customers left, because quite frankly the true jil woman would feel ridiculous in sweet pastel pinks and corseted full-skirted dresses.

As for Jil Sander herself, I am very excited that she comes back. On the other hand I'm also worried if she will be able to interpret her style to the zeitgeist. What she did with +J was excellent, but in the luxury market and in front of the fashion critics she cannot survive by making basics, no matter how well-designed they are. I hope she is able to do something as influential, edgy and wearable as she did in the late 90's. Those collections are still researched and copied everywhere, not to mention her revolutionary advertising images. The mediocre collections she was probably forced to do under the Prada leadership are definitely not the right direction to take

 

[liberty33r1b]

Was Raf Simons Fired From Jil Sander?
By Charlotte Cowles
Raf Simons made a surprise appearance at the Versus show on Sunday night, where he told reporters, "I am leaving Milan tomorrow, forever." Forever! That sounds extreme, but who knows. In today's WWD, Bridget Foley writes that Simons was let go from Jil Sander, or in her words, "unceremoniously dumped." She names no sources and expresses indignance and disbelief that Jil Sander Group would do such a thing. However, this is the first real "news" — if you can call it that — we've heard of Simons's dismissal. Up until now, the general assumption is that he chose to leave, probably to take over at Dior or YSL, or even just to add womenswear to his own eponymous line. Yes, it's wonderful that Jil Sander is back at her own brand, but would the company really dump a talented industry darling like Simons just because Sander felt like returning?
Cathy Horyn reported yesterday that Jil Sander Group's parent company, Onward Holdings, hadn't wanted to change designers. But of course, they can't look like they're too upset about it because that would look bad for Simons's replacement, Sander herself. Writes Horyn:
Franco Pene, the chairman of Gibo, an Italian subsidiary of Onward Holdings, which owns Jil Sander, said of the decision: “It’s not that we wanted to change designers. Raf has done a really good job. He’s one of three or four top designers in the world.” He mentioned Phoebe Philo of Céline and Alber Elbaz of Lanvin. But, Mr. Pene said, “it was a strategic issue to return to the culture of the brand” under its founder, Ms. Sander, and gain “consistency.”
Meanwhile, everyone admits that Simons's designs weren't making much money. But that's because the fashion house failed to provide sufficient infrastructure for cash cows like shoes and bags, not because of Simons's shortcomings as a designer. Foley complains, "At Christmas, I bought a glorious Sander runway bag, only to discover that day that the handle leather had split. A production issue; not a design issue." In other words, wherever Simons goes next — even if it's just to dig in at his own label — he'll probably be better off there.

nymag.com

 

[Scott]

well i was under the presumption he was actually let go,anyway....i mean how else can anybody explain the immediate confirmation that jil was returning? so i don't see how they assumed he chose to leave on his volition. the notion of that just doesn't add up in my eyes. as for bridget foley,i'm not sure how much we can actually trust her on her word alone without sources. although i know she was a mainstay at W for years,does she carry that much weight to be privy to such information?

 

[Flashbang]

So who's the head designer for Jil Sander Menswear? Ms. Jil herself too?

 

[Ives927]

I refuse to believe anything without confirmation. That's what I've learned during this whole ordeal with the amount of rumors that sometimes are true and sometimes are false.

With that said, it would be such a shame if Raf was fired. I really find that hard to believe and fully comprehend. His collections were always phenomenal. As the article states, it's not so much about Raf's design, but simply the management/infrastructure of the Jil Sander label. These fashion houses thrive on accessories and Raf has definitely demonstrated he can produce desirable RTW and accessories (market bag).

 

[Andro]

Although I am a big fan of Simons I cannot see how his aesthetic would work at Dior. There is nothing in his collections that would suggest he would be a good fit for that position. If he were to do it I would wish him the best of luck but I really think its going to be regrettable. I am happy to see that Sander is returning to her namesake, I have loved and still love her work.

I can't agree with you more. Raf Simons aesthetic so different then that of Dior. As far as tailoring and cutting a great suit, he's genius, but he is going to have to ad some more femininity into the product to make it suit Dior. And as far as Jil Sander returning to the label that bares her name, I'm completely thrilled! I don't think anyone can do Jil Sander better than Jil Sander her very self. I think her absence from her company has actually helped a little in regards to recognition. There is also a whole new generation of young fashion forward thinkers out there know what Jil Sander is but don't actually know who she is. They also don't know how Jil and Armani brought us out of 80's excess into the minimalism of the mid to late 90's. I'mm actually more excited about Jil returning to her label than Raf heading out at Dior.

 

[Andro]

I think Raf Simons represented the Jil Sander aesthetic honorably during his six years as head designer. I don't think anyone could have asked for much more from him at Jil Sander. His collections were praised with critical acclaim and he respected the legacy and customer of the Jil Sander beautifully. But I don't think anyone could want more that Jil Sander herself return to her names stake. It will be interesting to see how Jil will handle her return to her label and even more interesting to see what Raf Simons comes up with at Dior

 

[LolaSvelt]

I can't help but wonder if this sly move from Jil Sander will backfire?

 

[JuiceMajor]

I don't understand this negative aspect to Jil's return.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

I don't understand this negative aspect to Jil's return.

me either, it's HER house!