jil sanderIn the opening shot of Jil Sander’s just-released Fall 2021 video, the Lithuanian model Giedre Dukauskaite walks through an empty Parisian flat with a slight smile on her face, baroque pearls swinging from her earlobes. The fleeting feel-good image is one that sets the tone for the rest of the lighthearted (but nevertheless decidedly luxurious) Fall 2021 collection, which, according to the show’s notes, is “an ode to individuality, freedom and change.”

jil sander

Keep reading: “We need to be positive to change,” it says. And so, for the coming season, the Italian house, which was recently acquired by the Italian fashion group OTB, proposes a rich medley of patterns and ornamentation. There’s a lot to look at in creative directors Lucie and Luke Meier’s lineup, so let’s go back to Dukauskaite, whose tailored eggshell-colored suit, seen in that first frame, is worn open to expose long strings of baubly accents of different dimensions and shapes covering her chest. Soon after, she appears in lilacs, sunny yellows, Bauhaus-inspired geometric prints, and a large-scale black-and-white butterfly motif (a sign of rebirth, if you will) found on a matching silk trousers and shirt set. Later on, she reposes in a simple lingerie-inspired lace slip dress paired with over-the-knee second-skin boots.

jil sander

Speaking of shoes, the Jil Sander shopper is in for a treat: Other boots come in metallic finishes or embellished with hand-attached carved crystals; heels are elevated by way of a bold, sculptural twist; sandals sit atop a candy-colored bulbous plexi shape; and evening silhouettes are pointy-toed and topped off with chunky chains. (The season’s bags—a boxy purse and two rectangular totes—are of a more streamlined nature.) “Our sensation of being multiple, manifold, of swinging between diverging needs and pleasures, of wanting to be everything we feel, giving space to our many selves, is intense, revealing, and eventually  empowering,” the press release continued. “We are plural, eclectic, and so is the way we want to perceive and show ourselves.” In other words, our clothes need not box us in; the joy of dressing up—of playing dress up!—is one to embrace.

jil sander

Below, watch Jil Sander’s Stephen Kidd-directed Fall 2021 collection, set to the upbeat tunes of British and German singer-songwriter Anika.