My life – ma vie: Jil Sander
Alongside Donatella Versace and Miuccia Prada, she was one of the biggest women in fashion design worldwide. Now, Jil Sander is back. Three years after the sale of Jil Sander AG to the Milan enterprise Prada, she decided in 2003 to make her comeback as designer of her own line, and business partner of Patrizio Bertelli, the director of Prada Holding. The industry is thrilled, with fans and customers alike breathe a sigh of relief. When she presented her first new woman’s collection for summer 2004 in Milan, everyone was enchanted. Even as she has changed, Jil Sander has remained true to herself. Today, her designs are softer, more feminine, more poetic. In “My Life,† she speaks about aesthetics, the fashion circus, and about how important this creative pause was for her. Now, she explains, she sees things in a more relaxed way. Still, she is back with the same unmistakable passion. She determines every last detail herself. Jil Sander is the most consummate perfectionist in the fashion world. She does not like to speak about her own life. Peter Schmidt, designer and originator of her famous label, is one of her closest friends. He tells of her anxieties and yearnings, of her obsession and her passion to achieve the perfect form.