WWD talked with German designer Jil Sander about her partnership with Uniqlo, which is going extremely well. It's going so well, in face, that Jil has extended her contract with Fast Retailing, the parent company.
More than a year into her partnership with Uniqlo, for which she has turned out two collections of her new +J brand, Sander said she is getting the support she needs to carry out her vision of high-quality basic apparel replete with her minimalist signature and affordable price tags.
"It's very nice for me that they listen, that they understand, they go forward," she said. "It's almost like destiny....
"Since I'm very, very impressed with what we can do and what Uniqlo can do, I decided to go on. So I'm timeless for the moment," she said.
Jil's commute is pretty brutal: every two months she flies from Germany to Japan. She says the jet lag is a pain, but she loves the work. In future, more of the design work will be done in her large Hamburg studio, which she never gave up after she left her namesake design house.
