Jil Sander carves out new Bond Street flagship

The appeal of Bond Street remains undimmed with the latest big name to open there being Jil Sander. It has just debuted at number 134 on the West End of London’s key luxury shopping thoroughfare.

Why London? Jil sander said “there are modern creative cities where life, art, and different cultures and aesthetics seem to constantly evolve and blend into each other but London still feels like the junction of them all”.

The company said the space has been “designed to create an intimate journey into the Jil Sander world and infused with Lucie and Luke Meier’s sensitivity and superior attention to detail, the store is the first conceived in partnership with the international architecture firm Casper Muller Kneer”.

We’re told the space “is carved out of stone” and that doesn’t seem to be an exaggeration. Floors, walls as well and the staircase are made from a silver-blue travertine, “either rough honed or scored and textural, to create mineral, geological surfaces”.

It’s an undeniably fitting backdrop to the label’s quirky minimalist approach to fashion with Jil Sander saying it has an “architectural balance and a sense of discovery [that] echoes the Meiers’ work on the coalescence of ideas, empathy and materials, and their commitment to build durable environments, designed to wear and age well over time, integrating natural, recycled, and re-used material”.

The design duo said in a statement about the store: “We aim at creating spaces where you feel at ease, where the first thing you sense is an atmosphere, rather than an architecture. We want to offer to those who enter our world a series of devices that they can combine to be who they want to be.”

As well as the geology, lighting is “crucial to the experience”, illuminating the environment like an artist’s studio, with a soft natural light to “create an intimate setting, a dimension that feels personal and private. Suggesting care and concentration”.

Other elements in the design scheme are timber and brass with furniture also including recycled CD covers. 

The aforementioned staircase is a feature of the store, with the company saying it functions as “a threshold for the customer’s journey, the build of the staircase, inspired by Carlo Scarpa, intersects square slabs of travertine and adds movement to the space. The brass balustrade filters the light from the upper floor, spilling down into the basement, giving it a more natural luminescence”.

Other recent Bond Street openings include Swaine, Gucci and Aquazzura with Saint Laurent also agreeing a record rent for the street. A report last month also said that more and more luxury groups are buying up spaces on Bond Street for huge sums and are prepared to wait years until existing leases expire for the chance to own and move their key brands into the ultra-luxe spaces.