Simone Bellotti Makes His First Move at Jil Sander

“Jil Sander has a definite style—that’s why it’s still so loved, admired, and respected,” said Bellotti when asked about the brand’s place in today’s crowded, hyper-competitive fashion Welt. With many labels pivoting toward stylish wearability to grab attention, and just as many copycats scrambling for a slice of the market, how does a brand that practically wrote the blueprint for chic minimalism stay relevant? Bellotti revealed little about how his vision will unfold, but he acknowledged an affinity for a sensibility leaning toward restraint—a surprising admission, perhaps, given his 14-year tenure at Gucci under the maximalist reigns of Frida Giannini and Alessandro Michele. Yet his conceptual and artistic bedrocks were actually laid elsewhere, and his telescope points towards the North.

Courtesy of Jil Sander

Courtesy of Jil Sander

Courtesy of Jil Sander

Courtesy of Jil Sander

Courtesy of Jil Sander

Bellotti began his fashion journey in Antwerp, where he interned at A.F. Vandevorst. “I liked everything about that aesthetic,” he recalls. “While everyone else was heading to London, for me it was Antwerp, no hesitation, back in 2001.” Returning to Milan, he sought out experiences that would sharpen his architectural eye: first with the avant-garde, ultra-niche Austrian designer Carol Christian Poell—“an absolute genius, radical, extreme in his existential tailoring”—and then with Gianfranco Ferré, famously dubbed the architect of fashion for his sculptural precision. All of which is to say: Bellotti is a designer who values strong, clear foundations. And that, in itself, is a kind of symmetry with the spirit of Jil Sander, an intelligent house built on purity and conviction, designed by a woman of elegant, intense allure.

Yet there’s an unmistakable emotional undercurrent to Bellotti’s design approach, something his tenure at Bally made abundantly clear. There, he didn’t just revive a heritage Swiss brand with scant fashion credibility; he imbued it with a kind of esoteric naturalism, a magic realism drawn from obscure, fascinating Swiss traditions. The result was an unexpected blend of rationality and oddity, where precision of design met narrative finesse, and modernity brushed up against folklore.

Courtesy of Jil Sander

Courtesy of Jil Sander

Courtesy of Jil Sander

“Jil Sander is a brand with a soul,” Bellotti reflects. “It’s a complex house, one that holds within it extreme classicism, something very modern, and a kind of weightless lightness.” He speaks with reverence for the brand’s emphasis on research and quality, especially the kind of meticulous experimentation that isn’t immediately visible: hidden details, textures that appear heavy but reveal themselves to be featherlight, illusions built on precision.

“It’s a brand that has lived a long life,” Bellotti mused in his characteristically hushed, almost oracular tone. “And every designer who’s passed through its doors has helped uphold its high reputation.” Where Bellotti will take it next, and which corners of the fashion Welt he’ll explore, remains to be seen. But one suspects he won’t tread the obvious path.