Milan Menswear Autumn/Winter 2008

Jil Sander
Last week, Raf Simons won the Wallpaper* Design Award for Best Fashion and this outstanding show confirmed that our esteemed judges had made the right decision. This time the show’s starting point was the classical and noble grandeur of marble and stone. Images of life-sized terrazzo were printed onto tailored nylon and cotton to great graphic effect.

Yet what really shocked us was the way in which Simons had again pushed the boundaries of technical fabric research to the limit.

Simons revealed yarns laid in a combed wavy formation over felted wool, which were then pressed together, needle bonded and finally a print effect added that replicated marbly veins. More subtle, and top of our fastly expanding wish list, were classic tweeds with a mosaic effect within the warp and weft itself, which left us pondering whether there is anything that Simons can’t do. Even the tiny pleats used to create novel formalwear seemed to refer to the pillars of classical architecture. Needless to say, after the show we legged it over to the store and stocked up on the first deliveries of summer merchandise - something of a Milan habit.

Images: Catwalking.com