A longtime fan of Jil Sander, I was beyond excited when I caught word of the J + Jill Sander for Uniqlo collaboration, anticipating to up the ante on my pre-existing minimalist wardrobe pieces with these affordable designs. Wrong! After visiting the Uniqlo in SoHo the weekend the collection opened, I immediately discovered that the items in the collection were just slightly higher-priced versions of what Uniqlo already offered. No unique cuts or distinctive lines were found on the garments, just basic coats and activewear that did little for my imagination nor garnered any enthusiasm to wait in the extremely long lines to purchase or try them on. Both the mens and womens collections were relatively lackluster, however the mens had slightly more of an edge than the womens as far as color palette and structure were concerned. It’s possible that since I didn’t hit the store on opening day all of the amazingly-designed items had already sold out, but still, what I saw on the selling floor still shoudln’t even have been there. There was definitely a decent crowd of people appearing to pick up items from the collection and walk out of the store with them in tow, however I feel this collection was a case of the Emperor’s New Clothes. Sorry Jil Sander, I wish I had better news to report, but in all honesty, this collection was beyond disappointing.
