Where's Milan Vukmirovic?

[Orochian]

Does anyone know what happened to Milan Vukmirovic after he was unceremoniously zapped from his position after Jil Sander returned to her house?

Poor guy, most articles didn't even bother to mention his name, let alone his plans after his departure. Jil Sander was much too missed by everyone, little attention was spared to anything else.

I'm an old-school Jil Sander fan, but to be perfectly honest, the stuff he did for the label during Ms. Sander's hiatus wasn't half bad. His designers were wearable, versatile, and in some cases truly beautiful. Yes, most of it were quite derivative and unimaginative, but then again I'm quite sure he'd be condemned to hell if he didn't play it safe. The brand has such a strict archetypal aesthetic that any other designer, however talented, would be challenged to take any sort of creative liberty with it. It was a burden much too big for anyone else but Jil herself.

I think he'd do quite well as a designer somewhere else, where he's free to develop his own style.

 

[faust]

I agree with your comments, I don't think he did anything different from what Jil did (at least for men's clothing, never followed her women's line). The thing is, what did he do before JS? What is "hist style"?

 

[Orochian]

I believe he had very limited design experience. He was first a buyer at Colette, then took some sort of creative role within Gucci. How and why Patrizio Bertelli decided to tap him for Jil Sander, we'd never know. That man was stupid enough to kick Jil out in the first place, lord knows what sort of wacky logic goes on in his head...

But I think, judging from his work at Jil Sander, you can clearly see the label's reputation and heritage was holding him back. I just have this sneaking suspicion that may be he'd be a fantastic designer if given free reign.

 

[kit]

If it's of any use , I read on one of the Fashion News sites , could have been FWD , that he is back at Colette .

KIT B)

 

[mikeijames]

i agree with the comments made: vukmirovic did not really add anything to jil sander in the way that some other stand-ins have really enhanced collections where the designer still lives (recalling nilson at blass)...i really strained to see his impact when the fashion magazines of note were covering his work at jil sander.

on the other hand, jil sander really isn't the type of brand to change much no matter what. jil sander's recent collection marks in my mind one of the first few departures in overall move the house has had.

 

[Orochian]

Originally posted by mikeijames@Apr 21st, 2004 - 1:24 pm
on the other hand, jil sander really isn't the type of brand to change much no matter what.  jil sander's recent collection marks in my mind one of the first few departures in overall move the house has had.

Yup, and ironically, after so much anticipation and yearning for that good old Jil Sander-ness, I was kind of let down by her newfound "looseness".

Some of the outfits from her men's F/W 2004 look like they could've been taken from Marc Jacobs, or Alessandro Del Aqua. I want old Jil back. There's a place for stuffy, stern, strict, constipated-looking German design.

And thanks kit, for letting us know. I guess his stint at Jil Sander left him traumatized, and he'd much rather be back working in retail?

 

[Lena]

strange that you mentioned this..
its only few hours ago that i read this from wwd

MILAN IN PARIS: Milan Vukmirovic, the former creative director at Jil Sander who was ousted when Sander returned a year ago, is slowly getting back into the fashion game. He’s collaborated with Paris jeweler Dinh Van to create a 12-piece collection of jewelry dubbed “White and Black.” It’s slated to be unveiled in Paris next month. Turns out Vukmirovic, who was creative director at hip boutique Colette before succeeding Sander at Prada Group in 2000, has a long history with the jeweler, having brought the brand into the Colette fold during his tenure there. But that’s not all Vukmirovic has been up to. He also recently designed a sofa for Domeau & Peres that was unveiled during the Milan furniture fair last week.

Paris is much more his environment than Milano...
and he sure is well connected & respected

i'll have news from the sofa pretty soon,
a close friend was at the Milan furniture fair so..

 

[faust]

Originally posted by Lena@Apr 21st, 2004 - 1:30 pm
strange that you mentioned this..
its only few hours ago that i read this from wwd

MILAN IN PARIS: Milan Vukmirovic, the former creative director at Jil Sander who was ousted when Sander returned a year ago, is slowly getting back into the fashion game. He’s collaborated with Paris jeweler Dinh Van to create a 12-piece collection of jewelry dubbed “White and Black.” It’s slated to be unveiled in Paris next month. Turns out Vukmirovic, who was creative director at hip boutique Colette before succeeding Sander at Prada Group in 2000, has a long history with the jeweler, having brought the brand into the Colette fold during his tenure there. But that’s not all Vukmirovic has been up to. He also recently designed a sofa for Domeau & Peres that was unveiled during the Milan furniture fair last week.

Paris is much more his environment than Milano...
and he sure is well connected & respected

i'll have news from the sofa pretty soon,
a close friend was at the Milan furniture fair so..

versatile milan!!!

 

[Orochian]

Hmm. I suppose all these projects are being done in addition to his duties at Colette? He'd be a very busy man indeed.

Not quite sure what to make of his foray into furniture design. Like architecture, furniture has to deal with a lot structural/ergonomic issues, and really does require proper training. Designers from other fields, when they design chairs, occasionally tend to be more preoccupied with how it looks when not seated, than how it functions as an actual chair.

 

[Lena]

he doesnt seem to be currently involved with colette,
or else it would be stated at the wwd article

 

[PrinceOfCats]

Personally I think that his Clockwork Orange collection was fab and better than half the industrial-looking stuff Jil churns out...but I'm not even going to go down that road...

 

[duckboy]

where is he from

 

[Spacemiu]

did he used to be a buyer for Collete?

 

[Lena]

Originally posted by duckboy@Apr 22nd, 2004 - 12:37 am
where is he from

he's from former Yugoslavia, he used to be the star buyer fo Colette
(i admit he was very good as a buyer, the best Colette ever had)

 

[PrinceOfCats]

did he used to be a buyer for Collete?

Wasn't he one of the three founders of Colette?

 

[Lena]

Originally posted by PrinceOfCats@Apr 22nd, 2004 - 4:55 pm

did he used to be a buyer for Collete?

Wasn't he one of the three founders of Colette?

no wayyyy, he was maybe the second buyer at Colette and until very recently (March) by far their best .

OT:i dont know who is their new buyer but he/she's making a good job

 

[PrinceOfCats]

no wayyyy, he was maybe the second buyer at Colette and until very recently (March) by far their best

You're wrong (I think...) - I looked him up earlier today.

From iD:

"After that he became a designer for the Emmanuel Fouks label, where he met mother and daughter team Colette and Sarah. In 1997 the trio founded the Parisian boutique Colette,"

The material's gathered from their published archives and there's an interview with the man himself so I assume it's true.

 

[Orochian]

A few looks by Milan that I find particularly well-done:

F/W 03:

S/S 03:

 

[Orochian]

F/W 02:

Ok I'm starting to realize that there are actually A LOT of good stuff in his collections and I'm totally running out of space. So I'll stop. But you get my idea.

I have a feeling if some of these outfits were coming from Jil herself, the editors would've been raving like lunatics.

 

[Lena]

'he is 'a founder of Colette'' ...i really dont think so and i have ways to check this first hand

he was an excellent buyer that understood the concept too well, but founder..no,
he never had 'shares' in the company, he had no investment in the make up of the boutique and i centainly Colette wasnt his idea.