There is a good reason why good people of fashion can always rely on black. The lack of color is fail safe, especially in menswear, where there are so many ways experiments in color can easily become wrong or tacky. And in the worst case scenario? Both. However, Raf Simons amazes and satisfies with a flawless execution of incorporating colors into the Fall/Winter 2011 Jil Sander men’s wear line-up, making subtle references to his women’s line last season. Sure, Simons mentioned that he wanted to revisit the roots of Jil Sander men’s wear, and wanted to explore the notions of purity and reduction, but the result is definitely less somber than he made it out to be.

Suits are cut simply with two buttons, and the unadorned silhouettes have been highlighted with bright candy shades of orange, pink or yellow from top to toe. And surprisingly, there is nothing cheesy about a pink suit. In terms of volume, Simons turned up the volume on his women’s range last season for Jil Sander, and he applied the same notion to men’s wear this season, with a measured execution. Jackets and coats have been cut with room to move (and breathe), sportier jackets seems to have been injected with a slight blouson shape and even white t-shirts are now more generous and boxy in the middle. The Fall/Winter 2011 Jil Sander men is one built with a more traditional sense of physical masculinity, but with an ability to wear color without irony.