The Jil Sander men’s Fall collection was presented in the showroom, designed by the in-house studio. No designer with a capital D was in attendance; it was explained that the label was in a sort of transition phase.
The lineup referenced Independent People, a quite arcane ’40s novel written by Halldór Laxness, an Icelandic Nobel Prize–winning author, in which he described, with a kind of socialist realism, the struggle that Icelandic people had to endure against an inhospitable, harsh nature. As a starting point, it had a quite desolate feel.
The obvious need of protection from such extreme conditions inspired a collection divided into four themes: Disgregation, Neo-Brutalism, Solid Ground, Zen. Clearly, none of these concepts exuded any particular joyous appeal; they sounded intimidating and glacial, if not a little pretentious. The protective factor was on full display for a lineup where outerwear was of massive proportions. It was raw in feel, gigantic in volume, and dark in the mimetic quality of its colors, mimicking the organic shades of ice, lava, stones, geysers, rocks, and glaciers. Probably, it’d look invisible in an actual Icelandic landscape.
Textures were obviously raw, almost harsh; huge straps held together waistcoats that looked like arctic bulletproof armor, layered over coarse-looking knits. A few suits had elongated jackets worn over cropped and slightly flared pants; overcoats were slit on the sides, closed by metallic snaps. When not oversize, shapes were kept severe, with an austere aplomb. Hopefully, the transition will lead toward sunnier shores.
