I’ve got literal goosebumps thinking about how accurately Simone Bellotti‘s Jil Sander collection channels the world of Paweł Pawlikowski – the Oscar-winning Polish director behind “Ida“, “Cold War“, and especially “Fatherland”. Whether that was the designer’s conscious or unconscious impulse is an open question. But he certainly knows how to capture a very particular kind of German-ness – one that perfectly echoes Pawlikowski’s cinema and its historically complicated entanglement with Eastern Europe.

There is a certain sadness, brashness and sentimentality here that feels almost haunting. Małgosia Bela – who happens to be not only the original Jil Sander woman, but also the film director’s wife – appears in an hourglass-shaped skirt suit with a white shirt tucked in, creased and slightly undone. The hair is immaculate, the little black pumps perfectly prim. To understand what I mean, you simply have to watch one of the aforementioned films. It’s an unspoken visual connection, rather than a literal reference.

That same poignancy runs through the masculine trench coats, tweaked pencil skirts and tailoring with their somewhat peculiar, almost nun-like silhouettes. Even the little pop of colour feels loaded: a two-piece set in a postcard-like print, but all wrinkled, as if it were the abandoned promise of the West. This is a collection that makes you want to unpack generational trauma. Bellotti reminds us that contemporary fashion can be uneasy.

ED’s SELECTION:

Jil Sander Mélange Wool Jacket

Jil Sander Checked Cotton T-shirt

Jil Sander Satin-trimmed Wool Midi Skirt

Jil Sander Wool Cardigan

Jil Sander Slingback Leather Pumps

All collages by Edward Kanarecki.

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