2011 Raf Simons (for Jil Sander)

Raf Simons' spring/summer 2011 collection for Jil Sander marks a successful attempt to transcribe the appearance of minimal art into fashion. Unveiling odd shapes out of simple geometric volumes that cover the whole figur from the base of the neck down to the ankles, he simultaneously traces the outline of the human body within these primary structures and uncovers all the various qualities of textiles as there are flowing and bagging folds, flatt, matt, textured to shiny surfaces, soft or crisp, in vivid and significant shades of color. By keeping the overall composition irreducible, he manages to carry over explicit accessories--like mirrored sunglasses or a red plastic bag--into a state of literal abstraction.

This venture does not stand alone as he repeatedly had appropriated distinctive aesthetic concepts of painters as Mark Rothko, Ellsworth Kelly or Anselm Reyle into past collections of his own fashion house.

In an interview with J. J. Martin for Harper's Bazaar (January 2011) the designer and creative director Raf Simons defines his take on the idea of couture in the Jill Sander collection: "The idea of couture, for me, is the uniqueness, and the uniqueness here is the color." Extreme color effects like true magenta, blazing red or flash green combined with standard bright white t-shirts were accomplished through the use of synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon blends.