Jil Sander

Jil Sander, born Heidemarie Jiline Sander in 1943, is a minimalist German fashion designer and the founder of the fashion house bearing her name. Sander studied textile design and spent two years in the United States as a foreign exchange studetn before graduating with a degree in textile design in 1963. Fresh out of college, Sander worked at a German women's magazine for several years before opening her first boutique in Hamburg, at just 24 years of age. The boutique marketed fashions by such designers as Thierry Mugler and Sonia Rykiel, with a few of Jil's own designs making their way into the store. She created her first collection in 1973, and founded her own fashion house, Jil Sander GmbH, in 1978. Sander's fashions emphasized a minimalist aesthetic and precision-cut lines that placed the focus on the luxurious fabrics of the garments. The collections consisted of separates that could be easily mixed, matched and layered. Somewhat out of step (or perhaps ahead of) the over-the-top, exaggerated fashions that dominated the 1980s, Sander nonetheless developed a cult following and fully hit her stride in the 1990s. Her company's stock went public in 1989 and allowed for the worldwide distribution of her fashions and an expansion into menswear. Sander retired from the company in 2000, and the brand endured after a few missteps without its original designer at the helm. Sander made a brief return to the company in 2003, but retired again in 2004. Raf Simons is the current Creative Director of Jil Sander. Ms. Sander herself partnered with Japanese label Uniqlo from 2009 to 2011. Perfumes were an early offering by the house of Jil Sander, with Pure Woman and Pure Man the first scents of this house, both introduced in 1979, and later reintroduced as Scent 79 Woman and Scent 79 Man. Jil Sander fragrances are produced in conjunction with Coty. Designer Jil Sander has 90 perfumes in our fragrance base. The earliest edition was created in 1979 and the newest is from 2023. Jil Sander fragrances were made in collaboration with perfumers Gilles Romey, Jacques Artarit, Thierry Wasser, Annick Menardo, Pierre Bourdon, Michel Almairac, Nathalie Lorson, Ilias Ermenidis, Mark Buxton, Evelyne Boulanger, Emilie Bevierre-Coppermann, Jacques Cavallier, Alain Astori, Olivier Polge, Bruno Jovanovic, Christophe Raynaud, Sophie Labbe, Elise Benat, Beatrice Piquet, Sonia Constant, Olivier Pescheux, Bernard Ellena, Lucas Sieuzac, Philippe Bousseton, Domitille Michalon Bertier, Alexandra Carlin, Pierre-Constantin Guéros, Sylvie Fischer and Michel Girard.