Jil Sander S/S 2020 Paris Fashion Week Men's

Backstage Jil Sander Men’s S/S 2020 — Jil Sander Men’s S/S 2020. Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

(Image credit: Jason Lloyd-Evans)

Scene setting: Back in April, the artist Linda Tegg a living installation entitled ‘Adjacent Fields’ inside Jil Sander’s Milan HQ, using plants and weeds gathered from around the city. Tegg visited Milan's abandoned industrial sites with garden designer Matteo Foschi to source material. For the brand’s S/S 2020 show, the models walked down the side of a large frosted panel wall lined with foliage and plants. As they turned on the catwalk, their shadows receded backstage.

Mood board: Since arriving at the label in 2017, Lucie and Luke Meier have had to negotiate an immense legacy – one weighted in minimalism, fluidity and purity of line. The precision that its namesake founder lived by was here for S/S 2020 but in a more soulful, softer way. For summer the duo gave the line a fluidity, although there was a sharp nonchalance in the stiff Japanese cotton V-neck shirts with an open neckline. The touch of the human hand, of craft, was there in the trailing hand-crocheted fringing on cotton sweaters and the embroidered frame pocket details on rigid shirts.

Best in show: Jackets in summer wool had slim notched lapels folded inward. Cotton/linen tailored topcoats and shirt-jackets conveyed a formal simplicity. Epaulets dropped down to hug the shoulders on a sleeveless coat. Generous volumes have been the mainstay of the summer shows as both Qasimi and Valentino both offered a take on the djellaba. The Meiers' offered longer length shirts split at the sides. These generous volumes suggest an airy, roomy luxury.

Backstage Jil Sander Men&rsquo;s S/S 2020 — Jil Sander Men’s S/S 2020. *Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans*

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London based writer Dal Chodha is editor-in-chief of Archivist Addendum — a publishing project that explores the gap between fashion editorial and academe. He writes for various international titles and journals on fashion, art and culture and is a contributing editor at Wallpaper*. Chodha has been working in academic institutions for more than a decade and is Stage 1 Leader of the BA Fashion Communication and Promotion course at Central Saint Martins. In 2020 he published his first book SHOW NOTES, an original hybrid of journalism, poetry and provocation.