There have been countless designers at the helm of Jil Sander over the last decade. But none of them - not even Jil Sander herself on her third return to the brand - have managed to nail their debut runway collection as decisively as Rodolfo Paglialunga. The designer previously cut his teeth at Prada, later taking over as creative director at Vionnet and has most recently been working as a freelance consultant. Bouncing from brand to brand must have been good exercise for this well-trained designer as his freshman collection for Jil Sander demonstrated a shrewd understanding of the brand's DNA. Jil Sander is about no-nonsense day wear and Paglialunga dove in without restraint, sending out new iterations on the classic suit. Instead of pants, though, he relied heavily on culottes - a fashion favourite at the moment. But his culottes looked newer and fresher than anyone else's with their dropped crotches and flat front pockets cut from dense cotton twill. The man's shirt, deeply starched and properly buttoned up, was worn under thin clingy sweaters or compact sweatshirts with its elbows rolled up in efficient folds. Nearly every look maintained Sander's inimitable, sober Germanic coolness, not to mention her trademark wearability. There wasn’t much in the dressy department, but we didn’t mind. The palette kept things fiery, sending jolts of hot orange and burgundy through a beautiful base of navy and cornflower blue. This is a collection that has not only officially rebooted this beloved brand, but that will surely see its bottom line rise.
Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans
