PHOTOS: What Do Critics Think Of Jil Sander’s First Show?

by Jada Wong | 5:15 pm, June 25th, 2012

Jil Sander returned to the runway after a seven-year hiatus with her spring 2013 menswear collection this past weekend, and the reviews are in!

But first, some objective info about the collection itself: Sander remained true to her minimalist aesthetic, but added a good dose of color. There were cropped skinny pants, wide-legged shorts, boxy mid-thigh-length jackets, and perfectly pressed button-down shirts in white, black, blue, green, maroon, and yellow.

And now the reviews!

WWD says that the collection was classic Sander:

Back to purism, pure and simple. Returning to her namesake brand after an eight-year absence, house founder Jil Sander swept aside the often experimental ways of her acclaimed successor Raf Simons (now the couturier at Christian Dior in Paris) and plied her signature minimalist tailoring. The collection was crisp, graphic and youthful — and the men’s wear crowd issued a cheer when the shy German designer briefly emerged for a bow behind a scrim of white columns…Sander set the reset button with this show, and let the industry know that — 44 years after founding her label in Hamburg — she still has something to say.

Guy Trebay of The New York Times loved the clothes:

An auspicious opening to the men’s wear fashion week here, Sander’s show was a master class in cut and color, pattern and proportion…Somber skimmers reminiscent of the tunics favored by members of the Satmar Hasidic sect in Brooklyn demonstrated that the same shapes that gave men a grave and elegant line in the 17th century can produce the same effects in the 21st.

But he hated the matchy-matchy shoes:

Yes, the shoes were clownish, square toed and too considered (the colors of the sole matched that of other accessories in the show.)

Style.com‘s Tim Blanks also thought that Sander did a pretty good job:

Jil Sander has seen the view from this backstage area many times. It was, for instance, the space where she showed her first men’s collection 15 years ago. But today, the tower of the Castello Sforzesco was swathed in scaffolding. “Under construction,” the designer remarked, with the droll insinuation that what her audience was about to see was also a work in progress…This of course is not the first time Sander has retaken the reins here after a hiatus of one kind or another. But setting aside the brutal truncation of Raf Simons’ stint under her name, this was a much more confident, convincing homecoming than Sander’s last try.

All in all, Sander’s return fulfilled expectations, and she stayed true to her minimalist approach. Now, we want to hear your thoughts. Take a peek at some looks from Sander’s collection, and tell us what you think: