Hasta La Ideas

Looks from the spring 2011 Jil Sander collection

“People define the work I do for the Jil Sander brand as being very minimal. But I don’t think it’s very minimal. It’s more purist—and those two things are very different….It’s a very thin line, I think, the difference between purist and minimal—specifically in architecture. And I think you need to place those terms within the context of the world’s time—that moment in history that would be defined as ‘überminimal.’ Take for example the house of Linda Loppa [former head of the fashion department at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts] in Antwerp, which was like 2,500 square meters of concerete. The living room was 800 square meters and had two chairs, and the bedroom was 400 square meters and had one bed. When I first met Linda, I was 23 and just coming out of school. I was extremely obsessed with that house. For me, it was like the überpurist or the überminimal because I really didn’t split up the definitions yet. But now, after having lived in the houses I’ve lived in and becoming more and more of my own person, I’m not sure I could ever live in a space like that.”

–Raf Simons, who today showed his spring 2011 Jil Sander collection in Milan

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.