Fendi’s is not the most sympathetic fashion theater in Milan: This is a hard, clinical space peopled by hard, cynical security guards. The furs and shearlings may be warm and fuzzy, but the emotional warm and fuzzies are rarely aired.
Which made what came down the runway this evening feel all the more surprising—this was one of the deftest, most sympathetic, and positive collections of this season. Price point alone dictates that Fendi cannot be a democratic brand, but here in-your-face sloganeering, endearingly offbeat accessories, and a carefully balanced mix of the contemporary and the constant resulted in a highly aspirational mix.
Silvia Venturini Fendi had looked back to ’80s and ’90s sportswear, Buffalo (Felix Howard winked forth from the mood board), and her starting point, some inspirational lines from Ernest Hemingway about the positive strategies to try before letting the negative take hold. Mrs. Fendi said: “I want to be optimistic, need to be. These were simple words, universal words like love, listen, try. I was reading this and thinking it is so easy if you follow these universal rules.”
Like so many, this collection pitched a rapprochement between sportswear and pre-sportswear. Pastel and primary color tracksuits were worn under layered check overcoats, shearlings and felt leopard-print coats that were incongruously triggered by “Fat” Pat Butcher, an emblematic matriarch from the British soap opera EastEnders (she was on the mood board, too). Fur was inserted on outerwear collars and sleeves, or in full fur pieces with colored slogan side panels. There was plenty of branding: “Trust Fendi” read one shirt, and the Fendi marque blared from slides, rectangular check shearling tote tags, headbands, beanies, neck pillows, and more. Alongside it, though, were those watchwords. “Think” was etched onto the ankle straps of neoprene loafer hybrids. “Try” was on the side of a folding camping chair (yes, really). Beanies read “Fantastic” and headbands read “Think.”
Most items, said Mrs. Fendi, were reversible “because they are quite expensive pieces, so that is the value.” This was advertised by inside-out topstitched topcoats and jackets. This collection reversed perceptions, too. It made you think that Fendi might have a softer side—some warm and fuzzies—despite its stern exterior.
