A dream come true

This morning started with a bit of a disappointment and ended up on a high and on both occasions Ms. Jil Sander was to blame.

The morning wasn't great, as I couldn't buy anything from her collection for Uniqlo. I was hoping for the Uniqlo on-line store to carry some of the items, but that was not to be.

But then the new issue of T Style Magazine (published by the New York Times) appeared on-line.
Now, for a long time I wanted to catch a glimpse of Ms. Sander's private life (not in a crazy stalker-ish way, but in a 'I wonder how a creative person with a strong sense of aesthetics lives' kind of way). In the past I heard about the uniform, I read about the 35 identical white shirts and I knew about a period residence near Hamburg.

And now I know. The Fall Design issue of the T Style Magazine published photos (taken by Ms. Sander herself) of her studio and of her private residence. The buildings stand side by side near Aussenlaster lake near Hamburg.

The studio (designed by Michael Gabellini) looks as I expected: parquet floors, white walls with expensive-looking minimalist white-on-white art, huge windows and a sense of efficient serenity. It aslo looks like a space where hours can be spent on deciding the exact shade of white or the right texture and feel of cashmere.

The photos of the private residence, however, tell a different and at first glance unexpected, story. Designed by the legendary Renzo Mongiardino the house looks opulent and almost theatrical, something I wouldn't expect from Ms. Sander. But I also think on some level it all makes sense. Ms. Sander says in the interview about her dislike for the word minimalism. She is not about minimalism, but about purity. She explains: It's an ethic. The courage not to fill a room, to know where to stop.

Photo of Ms. Sander's office from the T Magazine article.