Jil Sander is participating in Staging Modernity, the ambitious performance-installation staged by Cassina at Milan’s Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber during Milan Design Week 2025. Curated by Formafantasma and directed by Fabio Cherstich, the project marks the 60th anniversary of Cassina’s production of the Le Corbusier®, Pierre Jeanneret®, and Charlotte Perriand® Collection. With Jil Sander providing the wardrobe for the performers, the collaboration invites audiences into a theatrical dialogue between body, design, and space.
DESIGN
In this evocative staging, Jil Sander’s costumes act as functional extensions of the performance. Designed to enable fluid movement while echoing the aesthetics of the Cassina furniture pieces, the clothing supports a conceptual journey through the contradictions of modernist ideals. The wardrobe is refined, architectural, and quietly expressive. It mirrors the essence of both brands: clean lines, structural elegance, and restraint.
Staging Modernity questions the legacy of modernism by contrasting its rational, industrial roots with today’s more fluid and ecologically-minded design consciousness. Through motion, sound, and form, the performance encourages the audience to examine how these tensions continue to evolve. Jil Sander’s garments play a critical role, softening the severity of formality with a natural grace that speaks to contemporary concerns, humanity, ecology, and change.
The project deepens the ongoing relationship between Jil Sander and Formafantasma, the design duo known for their intellectual approach to material culture and sustainability. Previous collaborations between the two include the redesign of Jil Sander boutiques and the creation of fragrance bottles. A new joint project is also expected to be unveiled at the Architecture Biennial in Venice this May.
Jil Sander’s involvement in performance costuming dates back to 1984, when the founder created wardrobe pieces for John Neumeier’s ballet Mozart 338. The brand’s history of embracing movement in design makes its return to the stage particularly fitting. Under the creative direction of Simone Bellotti since March 2025, Jil Sander continues to expand on its heritage, balancing purity of form with a nuanced vision for the future of luxury fashion.
Cassina, for its part, remains a leading force in Italian design. Established in 1927 and a pioneer of industrial design since the 1950s, the brand continues to produce furniture that fuses craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology. As part of the Haworth Lifestyle collective, Cassina shares space with other design titans such as Poltrona Frau, Zanotta, and Dolce&Gabbana Casa. In Staging Modernity, the brand looks not backward, but forward, open to reinterpretation through performance, and sartorial expression.
