For Kim Jones' first ready-to-wear collection for Fendi during Milan Fashion Week, he deftly paid homage to the past and charted new territory for the Roman house, while Silvia Venturini Fendi gave us an array of lust-worthy new season bags we’ll be toting around
It’s never easy taking over a fashion brand—especially one which has as much history as Fendi—but British designer Kim Jones’ first-ever outing for the storied Roman house might just have cemented him as one of the greatest designers of this generation, if he hasn’t already. Showing his fall-winter 2021 show via video presentation, the cinematic set featured a labyrinth of glass-encased Fs—taken from the iconic Fendi monogram—that housed marble columns and plinths, a nod to the city where the house has its roots.
Fashion-wise, Jones masterfully blended the old and new: The original Fendi Five’s personal wardrobes provided inspiration—in a bell sleeve taken from a vintage mink coat here, the pinstripes of their office wardrobe remade into a modern silk shirt there—as did the late Karl Lagerfeld’s legacy, where motifs like the Karligraphy monogram and the Fendi First shoe were incorporated in subtle ways.
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Jones’s own imprint came from the marbled silk used on dresses, the elegant organza embroidery on jacquard knits—key motifs that were used in his stunning spring-summer 2021 couture collection as well.
“I’m taking the amazing, strong women who I both know and work with, and listening to their needs,” Jones said. “There’s a usefulness to the collection, explored in a chic, timeless way.”
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