Material World

Yesterday, two days before his much-anticipated women’s wear show taking place this Saturday in Milan, it was announced that designer Raf Simons was leaving Jil Sander, the brand he joined five years ago and effectively resuscitated, for…parts unknown. And that he would be replaced by…creative director to come. This strike anyone else as weird?

It’s never in a brand’s interest to announce a designer’s departure before their runway show; it creates a situation where the press either pens a hagiography to the final work (my bet is this is what will happen tomorrow), or ignores it because it no longer indicates the direction of a house. Either way, the subject becomes not the clothes, but the house’s politics. Meanwhile retailers get wary of investing too much in the collection, because there’s no designer to push it via trunk shows or personal appearances (the next creative director not wanting to market the old creative director’s work).

So what went on? 

Here’s my guess: rumour, my dear Watson, all rumour. Yesterday when I came out of the Fendi show around noon, I learned there was pervasive gossip in Germany that Jil Sander (the woman) was returning to Jil Sander the brand (she left in 2003, for the second time; the first time was in 2000). Apparently, she had been spotted buying lots of very expensive fabric at the fashion world’s favourite fabric fair, Premiere Vision. Presumably this forced the brand’s hand, and they felt they had to acknowledge Raf was leaving – though they will not confirm or deny the Sander-returns side of things.

As to the likelihood of that, well, the IHT is reporting it is true , according to an unnamed German source, but I find it hard to imagine (which is not to say impossible). First of all, Ms Sander is 68. Second of all, she left – twice – because after she sold her brand in 1999 to Prada Group (who then sold it to a private equity group, who sold it the Japanese manufacturing company Onward Kashayama) she constantly struggled with her new bosses over the prices of materials and her own autonomy. It’s unclear why anything should be different with the current owners.

All I can come up with is that:

1) They may believe that the fashion world has great residual affection for Ms Sander, who was widely feted and influential during her time at her brand, and therefore a re-appointment will reflect well on their bottom line;

2) Her aesthetic was very big during the last recession of the 1990s, and here we are in another recession;

3) Mr Simons has been the subject of very public rumours of his own that had him being interviewed and courted for both the houses of Dior, which has been without a designer for a year, and Yves Saint Laurent, where current designer Stefano Pilati’s contract is about to expire. Maybe the Jil Sander folks got tired of him considering alternative job offers so openly. Or maybe he is actually going to one of those brands. Neither one of them responded to my queries. 

Anyway, it’s all making the conversation by the catwalks in Milan a lot more interesting.