DALLAS, Apr 26, 2007/ FW/ --- Inventive and iconoclastic, Raf Simons’ tenure at Jil Sander has been smooth sailing from day one. He has immersed himself with DNA of the German fashion house, moving the maison forward while infusing his own aesthetics.

Continuing with the notion of fluidity that he started for Spring 2007, wherein the 29-year old designer created subtle drapes and volumes, the Fall 2007 rendition is a little bit more structured with sharper forms and shapes.

One thing about Simons is that he can cut a coat to perfection. Proposing multiple variants of the coat from the cashmere capes based on a trench coat to the short-cropped variety that seem to be based on the Chinese chino, Simons’ precise cuts and tailoring shone through.

And while the Spring 2007 collection (now available in stores) is full of color, the Belgian-born designer opted for a very somber color palette of black, white, navy and cream interspersed sparingly with metallic shades of wine and blue.

Women’s suits are the house’s specialty and Raf Simons proposed it with aplomb like the one with four buttons strategically placed to form a square.

The dresses did not disappoint either. Almost austere and without any embellishments, the subtle drapes and volumes combined with razor sharp tailoring made them highly covetable.

Jil Sander

Jil Sander

Jil Sander