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At Jil Sander, Simone Bellotti channels the idea of ‘home’
(Image credit: Jil Sander
(Image credit: Jason Hughes))
Opening Milan Fashion Week this morning, Simone Bellotti returned to Jil Sander’s Milanese headquarters to show his sophomore collection for the brand (his debut last season saw the former Bally creative director return to the Gabellini Sheppard-designed space). For A/W 2026, the sparse white-walled space had been transformed by a rust-coloured carpet – a nod to the collection’s thematic starting point, the idea of ‘home’ (‘welcome home, where it all begins,’ started the accompanying notes).
Channelling the idea of ‘an emotional space where one lives, feels safe and belongs to’, and soundtracked by a Chiara Barzini poem on home read by Kim Gordon, it led to a highly desirable collection which moved away from the severe rigour and restraint of last season with clothing that was about ‘flow, flou [and] movement’. This was largely achieved through intriguing pattern-cutting, whereby curved seams disrupted and puckered tailoring and outerwear, while leather skirts were sliced down their front or folded at the waistline.
Elsewhere, flashes of colour and pattern (from electric blue to leopard print) met fabrics evocative of interiors, inspired by Bellotti’s father’s career as an upholsterer. The designer said he wanted the clothing to feel like it had an ‘agency of its own’: ‘the question this season is whether abandon can convey restraint’. Jack Moss
(Image credit: Jil Sander
(Image credit: Jason Hughes))