Lucie and Luke Meier by Jil Sander on Going Coed, Menswear Push and Brand Milestones

MILAN - Ask Luke Meier the biggest lesson he's learned so far leading Jil Sander with his wife Lucie and a concise yet striking declaration of love is offered as the answer. "That my wife and I are indestructible," he said on a Zoom call, his piercing eyes staring straight into the camera underlining the conviction in his words.

It was the culmination of a 20-minute conversation that touched on various themes, from reflecting on the work the couple have done during their five-year tenure with the government-controlled brand. OTB has a new menswear push and a topical change to the show format.

As many luxury brands return to presenting womenswear and menswear separately, the Meiers are once again embracing the mixed formula, planning to hold a runway show to showcase the two lines' Spring 2023 collection in September.< /p> Related Galleries

"We've always liked that idea. ... We've got our minds on both men and women all the time, anyway. It's really the same universe," Luke Meier said of of the student, which is a format they favored when they started at Jil Sander. As the women's offer included pre-collections, the couple then separated the lines to give the man his right dose of attention .

"We separated them to give menswear its own moment, we felt it was really needed. And now we think it's strong enough, it stands right next to womenswear in a good way. So bringing them together can really show more of Jil Sander's whole universe the way we wanted to," he continued. "It just took us a little while to establish it in the right way, but now we think it's the right time."

Jil Sander, 2023 Men's Station Courtesy of Jil Sander

The introduction of the first menswear pre-collection for the 2023 resort, unveiled on Monday, is also timely for the couple and should strike a balance between the two lines.

"We think there's an opportunity to expand what we do a bit more," said Meier, who thinks "the relationship between a pre-collection and an exhibition collection is interesting" because the first "gives you more than a range of different types of things to work on."

Even though menswear has grown within the company, Meier said there haven't been major changes in the way designers approach the category creatively, as they channel their energies mainly to amplify their work and "give it more depth". ”

The menswear station's initial effort exemplifies this attitude, invigorating the brand's sharp, precise aesthetic with eccentric accents and artful details.