'+J returns to Uniqlo'

Looks like Jil Sander and Uniqlo are at it again.

Following the success of the Uniqlo +J Fall/Winter Collection, it was announced two days ago that there will be another +J capsule collection set to launch later this month!

The Spring/Summer Collection will debut December 23 in stores in Japan and Asia. The collection is slated for January 7 in the United Kingdom; January 14 in the United States; and January 20 in France.

What can we expect to see this second time around?

More of the sleek tailoring and modern details that make German designer Jil Sander a favorite among customers. According to Uniqlo, the Spring-Summer collection “introduces fresh perspectives on volume, teamed with perfect harmony in fiber, color, optics and touch.”

The upcoming collection of shirts, jackets, knitwear and other items in new whites and pastel shades will likely play with proportion and include subtle detailing. The basics will again likely serve as wardrobe essentials, but with a modern aesthetic to update any wardrobe.

Prices will range from $22 for a T-shirt to about $170 for a coat.

The spring advertising campaign with models Iselin Steiro and Benoni Loos, to launch later this month, will let us have our first sneak peak at the collection.

The first +J Collection debuted in stores last October, drawing tons of shoppers. Many lined up outside stores for a chance to buy the affordable cashmere sweaters, stretch shirts, wool trousers and reversible down jackets in classic colors like navy, white, gray and black.

Unchanging from its mission statement that perhaps contributed to its success, the +J collection believes: “Luxury will be simplicity. Purity in design, beauty and comfort for all. Quality for the people. Basics are the common language.”

I can't wait.

-S. Gonzalez

*Photo courtesy of Fall-Winter +J Collection at Uniqlo

'Unique Uniqlo'

The long-awaited +J Jil Sander for Uniqlo line landed in stores this month with the help from my friends at Décor Innovation, who outfitted the Japan and Soho stores with sheer, white display curtains.

An estimated 300 curtains were custom sized and made to order for the fast fashion retailer's first-ever collaboration with a designer best known for her minimalist, no-fuss aesthetic.

According to Décor Innovation, Jil Sander (whose own online store launched just two weeks ago) loved the curtains so much that the stores decided to keep them for further projects.

Sheer curtains in similar variations can be found now at Décor Innovation.

Sander is known for her exacting taste when it comes to producing high-quality fashion – even in the making of décor and architecture choices in the workplace. She applies the same rigor to the +J Jil Sander collection, which is Sander’s first stab at reaching the masses with pieces all priced under $150.

Always pressing forward, the entire 140-piece line continues in the style that has made Sander a favorite choice among her customers. The collection is stripped to its purest forms and modernized with thoughtful details.

A sleeveless cashmere turtleneck has narrow ribbing trace the circumference of the armhole. Narrow navy sating piping runs along the edge of a navy cotton shirt. And a men’s blazer can opt between a two-button blazer one day, or a three-button blazer on another.

Neutral and versatile, the color palette ranges from black, white and gray, to navy and eggplant.

Creating fashion that is affordable and democratic might not have been on Sander’s agenda years ago. After all, the blond-haired, blue-eyed German told The New York Times Style Magazine that ‘it was dangerous for the brand, to go on another level.’

But now, with the recession threatening foreclosure on fashion namesakes from Christian Lacroix to Yohji Yamamoto, a new approach might be just what the industry needs.

-S. Gonzalez

*Photos courtesy of Decor Innovation.