Creative director Simone Bellotti brings an unconventional elegance, with deliberately calculated flaws, to the luxury fashion house from Milan.

At Jil Sander&#39;s Spring/Summer 2027 show on September 23rd, the models appeared looking as if they had just been hit by a strong gust of wind or had just gotten out of bed. Creative director Simone Bellotti continued to challenge the conventions associated with Jil Sander, infusing fragility and vulnerability into the brand&#39;s signature lines. For him, &quot;minimalism has become too mainstream.&quot; Held at the brand&#39;s historic headquarters in Piazza Castello, Milan, the collection explores movement, rhythm, and transformation, striking a balance between tightly controlled minimalism, precise tailoring, and intentional wrinkles, soft fabrics, and natural fluidity. The show opened with familiar Jil Sander signatures: flared trousers, shirts with airy necklines, and argyle-patterned wool dresses. The narrative gradually shifted with unconventional variations: oversized trench coats gathered at the waist, blazers with deliberately wrinkled details, and shirt collars protruding above the lapel. This was followed by soft, voluminous dresses that draped like bedsheets; asymmetrical pointed-toe heels; textured pencil skirts with Japanese landscape prints; and geometrically shaped bags. In this way, Bellotti breaks away from the minimalist, powerful uniform image associated with Jil Sander. Classic items like jackets, trousers, and pencil skirts remain the foundation, but are treated in a less perfect way: buttons are pushed higher, the waist is gathered and cinched, the hem is voluminous, while the proportions sometimes deliberately deviate from familiar balance.<blockquote> &quot;Uniforms have always been associated with toughness, strength, and power,&quot; the designer remarked.</blockquote>

Therefore, he began to adjust the tailoring structures, placing the buttons of the minimalist single-breasted jackets higher, suggesting an introverted personality. The more spacious double-breasted versions impressed with two buttons positioned near the throat, allowing the front of the garment to drape freely, sometimes curled up like the end of a scarf. Bellotti also experimented with waist darts on jackets and tailored coats, creating intentional creases that weren&#39;t always flattering. &quot;Not everyone can easily wear them. But we have other solutions,&quot; he said with a smile, implying that there would be more wearable versions in the showroom. Behind these experiments lies an observation of everyday moments, when clothing is no longer perfectly neat, symmetrical, or flawlessly arranged. A jacket slipping off the shoulder, a shirt bulging beneath a blazer, misaligned buttons, or an overall somewhat sloppy look are all details deliberately incorporated into this fashion season. The idea stems from those very moments when we strive to be our most polished. Office attire is often meticulously styled from head to toe, so neat and coordinated that any trace of personality seems to disappear. However, even though we want to leave the house looking perfect every morning, reality often presents other challenges. In a hurry, we might accidentally button our trench coat incorrectly, not have time to iron our shirt properly, or simply forget to tuck in the shirt that&#39;s sticking out from under our blazer.

The show was divided into several chapters, successively introducing the Fall, Studio, and Atelier lines. All were connected by a richly cinematic language, from the stage design to the designs on the runway. The Fall line, including Alex Consani&#39;s opening look, went on sale immediately after the show; while the Studio line became available at select stores and online from September 24th. “We wanted to tell a bigger story about H&amp;M women’s fashion,” Ann-Sofie Johansson, the brand’s creative advisor, shared during the meeting the following afternoon. “Fashion today is no longer confined to a single definition. We used the word ‘cinematic’ to describe this season because it feels like a movie. Nick Knight also grasped that idea and developed a theme centered around the cinematic spirit.”

Bellotti incorporates these minor &quot;incidents&quot; into its Spring/Summer 2027 collection. These include hastily put-together outfits, details slightly out of place, and ensembles that defy the rules of formal, polished dress. Through this approach, the perfect look gives way to a more natural and relatable style. That sense of liberation was further expressed through the layers of cloaks integrated into the fitted dress designs with voluminous hems, creating the feeling of wind-blown parachutes as the models glided past the closely spaced seats at Jil Sander headquarters. Bellotti, who has spent most of his career in menswear, said he was particularly interested in the opportunity to expand his creative scope in womenswear. Nevertheless, amidst the experiments with proportions and structure, Bellotti kept the collection in a “very classic spirit,” revolving around tailored jackets, long coats, trousers, and pencil skirts. It was this foundation that prevented the avant-garde variations from feeling entirely alien. &quot;But I think Jil has always been an alternative to this – it looks classic but is a little unconventional,&quot; he remarked.

Perhaps that&#39;s also how Bellotti defines Jil Sander for Spring/Summer 2027: not abandoning minimalism, but putting it in motion. Lines that were once tightly controlled begin to show folds; proportions that were once precise are allowed to deviate slightly; and elegance no longer means absolute perfection. In the world of Jil Sander, imperfection becomes another way for humanity to be present.

Jil Sander SS27: A Softer Take on Minimalism

Recommended posts for you

Fashion

MM6 Maison Margiela SS27: Dressing Against the Rules

Fashion