Jil Sander founded her own fashion house Jil Sander in Rotherbaum, Hamburg, Germany in 1968 with her mother’s sewing machine. Her first collection was for Hoechst, a chemical company, using their trevira fabric. 

In 1973, she launched a collection under her own brand name. She was critically acclaimed for her minimalist style, particularly pantsuits, belted trench, shirt dress and turtleneck. Her strength was fine fabrics, texture and neutral colors — a stark contrast to the maximal look of the era

She subsequently flourished through the 1980s and 1990s, and soon achieved an international following, thanks to retailers like Linda Dresner, who for a time had a Sander boutique on New York’s Park Avenue, and Joan Burstein of Browns in London.

In 1999 the Prada Group bought a 75% share in her company. Jil Sander remained creative designer and chairman. She on and off left the Jil Sander Group, but then returned to release Raf Simons of his position as creative designer in 2012. But again left the brand in October 2013. Lucie Meier and Luke Meier are the creative designers since 2017.

Jil Sander was listed as one of the fifty best-dressed over 50s by The Guardian (2013) and has been described as the ‘Queen of Less‘.