Germany’s greatest designer rarely gives interviews. But on her 80th birthday, Jil Sander talks to GALA about her life in fashion.
At a meeting two years ago she said: “At some point we will definitely see each other again on the Alster.” This summer, after my running training, Jil Sander came to meet me. As always, a warm, inspiring conversation. “We’ll talk again!” she said goodbye. Last week we got a call from the biggest German designer. She wanted to give GALA one of her rare interviews because she will be 80 years old on November 27th. She proudly looks back on a unique career. Jil Sander built a global company and still influences fashion with her minimalist style, even though she withdrew from the fashion world last year after the “+J” collaboration with the Japanese textile giant Uniqlo. She is currently working on a book.
Jil Sander in the big GALA exclusive interview
GALA: Ms. Sander, do you actually like birthdays?
Jil Sander: Not particularly. I usually travel then.
You will be 80 years old. Does the number mean nothing to you?
On the contrary, it’s irritating because my self-esteem hasn’t changed much over the years.
Looking back, which phase of your life did you find most exciting?
Maybe that of building my house, when the effort was worth it and things were moving forward quickly in the right direction.
Are there things you take more calmly today?
Naturally. Today experience tells me in advance what I previously had to try out and experience. I can assess challenges more quickly.
This is what fashion means to the designer
What have you learned about the role of fashion throughout your life?
It is extremely important because it reveals a lot about self-esteem.
What attitude towards our clothing has changed?
A lot has improved. We no longer wear fashion because it is trendy, but because we like it. But what it can do for us is still often underestimated today.
Why do you think it is so important to take fashion and your own clothing style seriously?
Because it gives us control over how we appear to others.
Do you also judge others based on how they dress?
We all do that, even if it often remains unconscious.
You are considered to be obsessed with detail and uncompromising in your work. Why is that and is it still the case?
It depends on the details. If something is wrong, the whole thing is invalidated. I learned this early on and treated the so-called little things with care throughout my life. Executing it is almost like a code that I share with Jil Sander wearers.
Is there a character trait that has always been underestimated or never really noticed about you?
I am considered shy, which is not entirely wrong, but at the same time I am very determined and relentless when I strive for a goal.
Like no other German designer, you have changed the meaning of fashion internationally. What are you particularly proud of?
Maybe that it was possible to believe in the big dream and make it come true. But also on specific projects such as the ultra-modern flagship store on Paris’ Avenue Montaigne, which we realized in the 1990s, undeterred by the Parisian boutique aesthetic.
Jil Sander changed women’s fashion: in 1993 the designer married the American model Photograph Christy Turlington.
© Valdmanis/Getty Images
True to the motto: “Less is more”
They have always defined luxury through fabrics and the perfect cut. After the wave of logomania, “Quiet Luxury” is now celebrating a big comeback. Why?
You quickly get fed up with the label culture and ostentatious luxury and throw it away. While the quiet luxury you are talking about is in line with the ecological crisis and the sense of sustainability.
Where did your very minimalist vision of fashion come from at the beginning of your career?
I was born with it or found it at a very young age. In any case, at the age of six I was already very particular about clothing and advised my family on how to dress.
“Less is more” is what you always advocated. Does your aversion to loud things only apply to fashion or to life in general?
Already general. It was probably “female clothing” that irritated me because men were allowed to wear completely different, more practical things. I was jealous of them.
What impression do you have of the next generation in terms of their sometimes superficial attitudes to life and fast-paced clothing styles?
I look at the generation after next that rejects the superficial, also for ethical reasons. I’m currently seeing a lot of imagination among young people, which also has to do with incorporating vintage fashion.
Do people dress better today than they used to?
They pay attention to comfort, and this increases freedom of movement. You don’t have to wear something different every day if the look is right.
Are there trends that you still can’t understand today?
There are actually a lot of them!
What should we learn from you?
I’m not a teacher, I make mistakes like everyone else. But I actually see my design work as missionary. I want self-respect to extend to one’s clothing and through it we gain respect and support.
We haveWe met while walking along the Alster in the summer. What does Hamburg mean to you?
Hamburg is my home and I understand the attitude to life there, a certain reserve and sophistication, but also the climate, the water and the clear, incorruptible light.