Fendi's opposites

90s minimalism and pop eclecticism. Hard and soft. Acid colors and muted tones. A collision of opposites. Fendi explores that transitional moment between the 90s and the 2000s, evoking the work of Karl Lagerfeld. «I am interested in looking at the things Karl did and seeing how we can develop them», Kim Jones, creative director of womenswear at the Lvmh maison, emphasized. He brought to the stage a collection where the lightness of floaty organza dresses combines with the materiality of fur in mini dresses, where satin cargo pants are traversed by maxi buckles with the double F in gold metal while knitwear is paired with skirts with elongated silhouettes. The first look evokes an ideal connection to the latest couture collection 

An obi belt embellished with a maxi F placed on the model's back wraps around the waist of coats traversed by graphic cuts on the sleeves and hip. An almost oriental rigor is thus combined with an impalpable softness. Accentuating the contrast between classicism and sporty spirit are cuissardes boots with a fluorescent green maxi platform and inverted logo on the heel. That same color that intersperses the entire catwalk then fades into shades of mint for the silks and satin of the petticoat dresses that are so reminiscent of 90s Kate Moss.

Short shearling jackets are worn with flowing pants, column dresses open at the back in a game of lacing while satin dresses reveal asymmetrical cuts. Pearly gray is reminiscent of certain technical-sportswear on organza or nylon jersey that gives life to knitwear shaped to the body and traversed by stretch-effect stripes. Accessories are bold. The shoes are all hoisted on rubber platforms, the bags, designed by Silvia Venturini Fendi, play on mini or maxi sizes with trompe l’oeil ribbon effects or, again, they split in half, as in the case of the Pekaboo, revealing their inner mechanisms. The jewelry designed by Delfina Delettrez Fendi is «functional architectures that suspend each stone by making the logo disappear», the designer pointed out. Continuing the game of opposites which permeates the entire collection and aims to bring an aesthetic of the past closer to the new generations by revising it.

Judgement. After the success of the New York exhibition dedicated to the Baguette and punctuated by true fashion moments, starting with the collaboration with Marc Jacobs, Fendi opened the first day of Milan fashion week with a revisiting of the codes of the early 2000s, when Kate Moss, friend and muse of Kim Jones, was the true queen of the catwalk and evenings with her slip dresses smooth on the body. A vision that the designer who leads Lvmh’s womenswear reproposes for today’s women, mixing functional utility with femininity. «Because Fendi women are strong with full and busy lives», Jones himself pointed out. (All rights reserved)