Items to Consider — Birkenstock x Jil Sander
Words by Ellie Hay
The role of Birkenstocks in our everyday wardrobes has gone through a significant re-up in the last year. No longer the part time sub to support our 501’s on a leisurely Sunday. Our favourite off-duty footwear is now on-duty too. Birkenstocks are a straightforward and reliable addition to WFH dressing, providing comfort and grounding during virtual meetings and local coffee pick-ups. Nowadays we wouldn’t think twice about slipping on our suede mules with our favourite dress, and find pleasure in this new aesthetic of post-growth power dressing. We were very excited to hear Birkenstock and Jil Sander are launching a new collaboration—out this month, consisting of four unisex shoes and sandals. Three are redesigns of classics, and one is completely new design development. Jil Sander’s sense of minimalist luxury, comfort (and cool) is a great addition to the Birkenstock silhouette.
The palette is clear, graphic, and natural: cream, olive and black and the redesigned buckles are thinner, in precious satin nickel. The new Velan model is a reinvention of the Berlin closed-toe sandal, with a soft nappa strap to wrap around the ankles. Starting at £320, the sandals will be available at jilsander.com, 1774.com and mytheresa.com exclusively for one week from July 1st, then at select retailers and Jil Sander stores worldwide from July 8th 2021.
Ellie Hay is founder and creative director of Patter. She has written for publications including AnOther.com, T Magazine and Dazed Digital as well as lecturing at London College of Fashion.