Given that the Spring 2011 Jil Sander collection was hands down, across the board, one of the best collections in recent history, designing the follow up couldn’t have been anything short of daunting. Menswear-inspired shirt dresses first made waves in New York and it’s fitting that they popped up in countless iterations in the Spring 2012 Sander collection given that the minimalist style was one that Sander herself perfected when she was still designing for her namesake label. Designer Raf Simons turned the classic white man shirt into a slew of monochrome shirts and dresses, some of which took on a somewhat clinical look. While the stark, demure silhouettes gave an eery Hitchcock-like tint to many of the looks, they were modernized with the designer’s use of sheer fabrics. Only Simons could design looks so crisp and clean – so prim and proper – that nonetheless hold some semblance of sex appeal.
Monochrome white looks aside, paisley, gingham, perforated fabrics, and face print separates livened up the sharp collection.
