Aboard to Milan Fashion Week… Bold, baroque and brash, thus, rather out of touch with the regular customer. Accused of lacking in new shoots for a good while now, and Spring/Summer 2012 hardly pacified. Still, a handful of collections stood out for me, quietly amidst the

tackiness

loud and louche… #ijustdonotgetversacerobertocavallidolceandgabbanagucci

After the landmark S/S’11 collection for Jil Sander, if I were Raf Simons I’d have put my feet up and lived off it

for the rest of my life

for the next few seasons. No rest for the wicked as they say, he carried on from just where he left off… And for S/S’12, he worked up yet another street-savvy collection with the rigors of couture. Jil Sander’s signature minimalism and modernism were omnipresent but Raf threw in a bit of measured whimsy into that mix, to showcase the most composed collection of the entire S/S’12 calendar… #lessismore

The plain white cotton shirt, the iconic Jil Sander piece, formed the cornerstone of this collection: shift pencil dresses, tailored jackets and ball/bridal gowns (see what I meant by “measured whimsy”?) were spun from it. Sounds rather

drab

nurse-like, I know, but the small glittering brooches at the back and the sensual sheer and mesh detailing nicely saw off that connotation.

The pick of the lot for me were the knitted sweaters ‒ and no ordinary ones were they – thanks to Picasso’s faces splashed across them. A-ha, that’s the modernism box nicely ticked off.

While

hypnotic

vivid paisleys added some spunk, checks and ginghams enhanced the serenity of the collection ‒ but these prints were never let to overwhelm the clean, simplistic lines of the pieces they adorned.

Not too keen on the chunky square-toed shoes, I’m afraid. Those patent box bags would’ve had me lusting were it not for the flash of logo (#iamazealouslogophobe).

How thoughtful and considerate of Raf (!!) that almost all elements of this collection can be translated seamlessly to any wardrobe: the shirt dresses, the lean and graceful silhouettes, the paisleys, checks and ginghams, the sheer and mesh detailing, and even those brushstroke prints. Knockoffs of those light mesh tube dresses (read crocheted!) can be found in high-streets just about any time. Obviously, it’d be tricky to get hold of rights to replicate Picasso’s ceramic works, BUT, how about splashing some heavy brushstrokes of your own? Go on, you know you want to… 😉

Sermon on Simplicity at Jil Sander S/S’12

Sermon on Simplicity at Jil Sander S/S’12