Fashion: Well Done Jill Sander and Uniqlo!

The past few week have been rather hectic and I didn't actually have a chance to make my way to Uniqlo's Oxford Street flagship store to check out the Jill Sander collection until late on Thursday afternoon. For those of you counting, that would be one full week after the collection was unveiled here in London. In designer/high street collaboration terms, that is tantamount to arriving at a New Year's Eve celebration on January 2nd. In other words, why bother? I was therefore more than a little shocked to find a limited but still decent selection of most items in the collection including a number of items in my size.

First, let me say that Jill Sander was entirely true to her word. Not only are the pieces consistent with the pared down, minimalist aesthetic she helped propel to fashion's forefront in the early to mid-1990's but they are incredibly well-made as well. The fabrics are substantial while still soft to the touch, the seams are sewn stick-straight and the finish is absolutely flawless.

I saw enough of the whole collection to say that as a consumer, this is probably one of the best designer/high street collaborations since Roland Mouret's for GAP. In fact, in terms of product range (coats, jackets, trousers, knit dresses, sweaters and cotton shirts), it probably surpasses Mouret's which as far as I remember included mostly dresses and tunics. In short, I was thoroughly impressed (as most of my regular readers know, I don't impress very easily). The double-breasted military style coat I purchased is a timeless classic and while I've decided to change the black plastic buttons for brass ones and the original wool belt for a black leather one instead, I think it would be perfectly stylish as is.

Finally, I must applaud Uniqlo for it's 'maximum 2 items per customer" policy. I chatted for a bit with one of the store's floor managers who told me in explicit terms that Uniqlo was determined not to have the +J collection end up on e-Bay like so many of its competitors' collections. I think this was a brilliant move. Not every customer is willing to line up for hours and risk being trampled to death just to get their fashion fix and they certainly don't care to purchase the items on e-Bay at three times the original cost. All in all, I believe a new standard has been set for designer/high street collaborations both in terms of quality and execution. Well done Jill Sander! Well done Uniqlo! Please let there be more to come.

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles

Image courtesy of POP blog.

Comments

[Dahlia]

Fabulous and jealous at the same time. Wish I could have the chance to review Uniqlo's +J myself to see.

I love that 2 items maximum policy, H&M could definitely use that policy and let others have a fair share of the designer crop since the shoppers are so ridiculously aggressive when it's a reknown fashion brand.

[Make Do Style]

Isn't a great collection. I have to say Uniqlo is currently my fav place.