The iconic fashion designer offers unprecedented access into her career and personal history with this once-in-a-lifetime publishing event. The complete, official retrospective, designed by Irma Boom-one of the world's leading book designers-in close collaboration with Jil Sander herself, is packed with special features, that will make it a highly coveted collectors' item. For decades the name Jil Sander has evoked the philosophy of less is more-a minimalist aesthetic using highest quality materials and employing exquisite craftsmanship to the effect of poetic purity. Designed and produced as impeccably as her clothing, this beautiful book offers unprecedented access into Sander's remarkable history as a designer, and international businesswoman. Rich in archival material, and glimpses into the life of its famously publicity-shy subject, this book tells how Sander started in the 1960s and quickly established herself as a discriminating designer unfazed by trends. When the world finally caught up to her brand, in the late 80s and 90s, the Sander name became one of the most prestigious in all of fashion. Adhering to her core principles was the key to success with her own label. The book recapitulates her foray into the world of cosmetics and her later partnership with Uniqlo, where she created the special line +J. A further focus is given to her cooperation with leading architects on the architecture and interior design of her multinational flagship stores. Every aspect of Sander's career is interwoven in this fascinating story. The result is an elegant manifestation of the Jil Sander name-a story of integrity and grit, sumptuously packaged and timeless.

A collection of essays examining the influence of Kant on Heinrich von Kleist. The great and eccentric German writer Heinrich von Kleist, famous for his enigmatic dramas and novellas, read the Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant in 1801. A series of letters written around this time speak of the distresshe felt as he absorbed the implications of Kantian thought. This sense of distress -- long considered important to understanding Kleist's subsequent works -- has become known to Kleist scholars as the 'Kant crisis,' and marks Kleist's abandonment of the hope of gaining metaphysical certainty about his life. But it has never been established which texts of Kant Kleist actually read, how well he understood them, and why they precipitated such despair. Kleisthimself -- aside from one paraphrasing of Kant in a letter of 1801 -- was never explicit about what he called this 'sad philosophy.' Yet the distress seems never to have left him and remains an abiding preoccupation throughout his dramas and stories. This collection of essays, all in German language, represents the most recent work of prominent scholars in the field. It takes the pervasive sense of metaphysical crisis in Kleist's works as a startingpoint. In the context of Kleist's response to Kant, the essays deal with his subversive treatment of the literary motifs and genres of his day, and with the ambiguity of truth in his works -- for his characters and readers alike.In tracing the source of crisis to specific writings of Kant and to other Enlightenment thinkers such as Rousseau and Wieland, the essays show Kleist's complex dialogue with the Enlightenment to be an important new approach to understanding this notoriously difficult writer. Tim Mehigan is Professor of German in the Department of Languages and Cultures at the University of Otago, New Zealand.