Simone Bellotti – the brand whisperer at Jil Sander

Simone Bellotti is showing me a vintage denim jacket. Its frayed sleeve, he says, is the perfect expression of “authentically destroyed”. The jacket is one of dozens of garments that fill two rails in the designer’s office. The clothes are part archive, part research project and part storage solution – “I don’t have enough space at home,” he says – as well as acting as a visual prompt for what makes a classic piece. The best garments are those that consider…