MFF 111 - Delfina Delettrez Fendi: «With Kim Jones I immediately felt like family»

Family first. Fendi’s history has always been linked to the concept of family. Strong women who built a company representing Italian fashion, together with a male figure with whom the perfect alchemy has been created. Karl Lagerfeld first, Kim Jones today. It is as if everything was written in the stars. After the death of the designer who for over 50 years worked alongside the Fendi sisters in the process of establishing the fashion house’s image, Kim Jones’ arrival was fundamental in recreating a magical balance.

Since his appointment, about a year ago, as Artistic Director of Fendi’s Couture and Womenswear, the British designer joined Silvia Venturini Fendi, Creative Director for Accessories and Menswear, kind of squaring the circle. Not surprisingly, it was Jones himself who wanted to consolidate the family vision, by appointing Delfina Delettrez Fendi, Silvia's daughter, as Artistic Director of Jewelry, creating a strong bond with LVMH Maison’s DNA, which is being strengthened season after season.

The FW 2022/23 collection presented at Milan Women Fashion is emblematic, resulting from the fusion of two historical collections, between tailoring and lightness, masculine fabrics and pastel colours. «Hard and soft», as Kim Jones defined it. A three-way dialogue capable of giving shape to different facets of the brand's universe, told through the lens of its conductors, because «families are not only those you find yourself in, but also those you choose», as Silvia Venturini Fendi loves to repeat.

How was your meeting with Kim Jones like?

It was very nice, I immediately felt like part of a family and I think he can say the same. At Fendi, family is very important and it is a bit like the family you choose in addition to your natural one. An extended family that has become more international. I think my mother is used to working together with a man. It is a way for us Fendi women to balance femininity. Then Kim has a great ability to create a sense of family wherever he goes, he is loyal to his friends...

This does not exclude, it unites...

Exactly, it is really all about inclusion and that is very nice.

Fendi itself has also become inclusive. I am thinking about the cast, the fashion. It has opened its mind a lot...

Yes, absolutely.

He has been here for a year...

Yes, a little over a year. I am very happy, for me it is like flipping through a family photo album and adding new photos to it. It is all familiar, which does not mean facilitated, but natural, and it is very nice.

Where do you draw inspiration for the jewelry you design for Fendi? From the archive, from what you see?

I actually look very little at the archive because jewelry for Fendi is new and there are not many examples in the history of the brand. I like to look at the world of prints but above all, having grown up in a family of women only, I think I have inherited the ability to be able to capture what the Fendi woman has always wanted and perhaps never had, precisely because up until now there has not been a focus on jewelry. I imagine a new Fendi woman, with a new way of being and moving that also comes from jewelry, from the way she chooses it.

How do you see your mother at the moment?

She seems very serene and I think there is no finer gift than finally being able to work together.

What emotion did you feel when you received that official appointment?

It was a great joy. It made me make peace with many things in my head and gain confidence, because when you carry this name, it is easy to have misconceptions about yourself, so I really enjoy it. And then to be called by someone who was not already a part of the family was a beautiful emotion.

And if two people make magic...

Three people make an explosion. You work even better with another set of eyes, with another brain. There are more desires, there is another no to struggle with...

Which are more useful, nos or yeses?

Nos help a lot, they are gifts. They make you see things from other perspectives, a bit like mistakes. And then with my mother, having this familiarity, we say no all the time. There is not that obstacle of being afraid of hurting someone or going against the grain. We tell each other, we challenge each other.

And do you say “no”?

If I say no, they are sincere nos, as are my yeses. Everything is based on sincerity and it is like that with Kim too. It is nice to work in a group of three, to follow someone else's vision, I was not used to it. (All rights reserved)