Jil Sander Fall 2022 Menswear Collection

An enormous lantern was suspended between the vaults and pillars of the American Cathedral on Avenue George V like a big, bright sun casting its rays over Jil Sander’s models. Serenaded by an intensely elated soundtrack by Panda Bear and Animal Collective, the mood was quite hippie. There’s always been a puritanical quality to the work of Lucie and Luke Meier, but in this collection, it transitioned into a more articulated kumbaya. That sensibility was carried by crochet— lots of it—wrapped around necks and heads and spliced with oversized blazers and tuxedo jackets that couldn’t have made for a bigger contrast.

“We liked this really elegant, masculine silhouette, but with a sensual side to it, as well,” Lucie Meier said after the show. “We start a lot with tailoring, just to see what we really want to do and say and what we care about. But this time, we worked it into typically feminine techniques as well,” Luke Meier added. The meeting between crochet—the emblem of granny chic—and strong tailoring made for expressions that were more focused on trend and statement pieces than previous proposals from the Meiers, whose collections usually feel more centered around the idea of a wardrobe. Backstage, Lucie pointed as to why: “You kind of miss people who really dress up and have a kind of eccentricity,” she said, referring to the way the pandemic has cramped our collective style, or at least our opportunity to show off said style.

As a symbol of “personality and individuality,” Luke said, the designers scattered astrology prints and zodiac embroideries around the collection, intensifying the hippie energy of it all, only to contrast it with the rigidity of sharp lapels poking out from layers under jackets, and suit trousers tucked into hard, pointy Santiago boots with metal heel caps. It was a bold proposition for post-pandemic self-expression, but one the aspiring street style stars of fashion week will no doubt embrace.