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Heidemarie Jiline " Jil" Sander (; born 27 November 1943) is a German minimalist fashion designer and the founder of the Jil Sander fashion house.
Sander studied at Krefeld School of Textiles (class of 1963) and was a foreign exchange student at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1963 to 1964. After her stint in UCLA, she moved on to New York as a magazine fashion writer. At age 21, she came back to Hamburg, Germany to join her younger and older siblings after their father died unexpectedly at the age of 52.Suzy Menkes, "Jil Sander Bathes in the Glow of Uniqlo", Nytimes.com, 7 June 2010 (accessed 11 October 2016)
She overcame a poorly received first Jil Sander Paris collection shown at the Plaza Athénée in 1975 and listed her company on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange at the end of the 1980s. She subsequently flourished through the 1980s and 1990s, and soon achieved an international following, thanks to retailers like Linda Dresner, who for a time had a Sander boutique on New York's Park Avenue, and Joan Burstein of Browns in London.Cathy Horyn "In Jil Sander's Exit, Echoes of the Past", nytimes.com, 27 October 2013; accessed 1 July 2014. In 1995, the Jil Sander group reported $114 million in sales.
Sander returned to the company as head designer and partner in a surprise decision in May 2003, after her noncompete clause had expired. Officially, Bertelli "approached Ms. Sander and began negotiating a truce". "'Second Coming' of Jil Sander", nytimes.com, 26 February 2004. Bertelli had, with regard to Sander's departure in 2000, boldly stated before: "A brand as strong as Jil Sander doesn't need to rely on the name of a designer". The Independent Fashion & Style, 25 November 2004. She was rehired under a six-year consulting contract and also received an undisclosed stake in the company and a seat on Prada's strategic committee.Sara Gay Forden "Prada Sells Jil Sander to Vandevelde's Change Capital" , Bloomberg, 23 February 2006.
In November 2004, Sander terminated cooperation with Prada for good and resigned from her post again after insurmountable differences with Mr. Bertelli. Prada announced in an official statement that "the decision by Patrizio Bertelli ... and Ms. Sander to end her involvement in the company was amicable." "Yet Again, Jil Sander and Prada Part Ways", nytimes.com, 17 November 2004. She withdrew from her involvement in her namesake brand. She continued her contributions and work at Uniqlo. The white stucco building in Hamburg that was once the Jil Sander showroom was re-proportioned by the New York architect Michael Gabellini. She returned to her brand in February 2012, only days after the then creative director, Raf Simons, was released from his position. Sander left the brand again in October 2013.
The second line of +J designed for spring and summer wear, was launched on 23 December 2009 throughout Asia including Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and China, and on 7 January 2010 in the London stores. It was to be launched in Uniqlo's sole US store in New York City on 14 January 2010. This collection will see more retail drops during the Spring and Summer seasons. Following a successful run of three years, Sander and Uniqlo's parent company, Fast Retailing, announced that the partnership agreement would not be renewed at the end of 2011, marking the end of +J. The last collection from the collaborative label was for the Fall/Winter 2011 season. The split between the parties is said to have been mutual. "UNIQLO +J Collection To End", freshnessmag.com, 23 June 2011.
+J returned to Uniqlo's store shelves and online shop for a Fall/Winter 2014 and Spring/Summer 2015 "best of" collection, featuring selected previously designed pieces by the partnership.
Jil Sander worked with Uniqlo again in the 2020 autumnwinter season with collections for men and women.
In 2021 the control of the Jil Sander brand passed to the Italian fashion holding OTB Group.
She was listed as one of the fifty best-dressed over 50s by The Guardian in March 2013. Sander has been described as the "Queen of Less".
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