“Nothing to declare!” said Silvia Venturini Fendi backstage when questioned about what rumor suggests might be inbound changes at the house. It was the perfectly apposite answer at an excellent show dedicated to that ultimate hub of contemporary transience, the airport arrivals hall. The set was a long luggage carousel set in front of a departures board listing the next flights from FND; to Zurich, Qatar, London. As the lights went up the carousel juddered into life, transporting a mix of Fendi-stickered boxes, vintage Fendi luggage (presumably from the house archive), Fall 2018 Fendi accessories, and the occasional oversize statement piece, including a double-F, fur-clad Fendi baby carrier that went around unclaimed four times.
Fendi’s frequent flyers wore a collection that made their provenance as clear as any baggage tag: logo fur blousons, intarsia shearlings, and transparent macs were all FF-abulously brand specific. Only slightly more deconstructed were the diagonally striped shades of brown and cream leather track jackets, cagoules, and intarsia fur coats that came worn over baby cords and big technical-fugly sneakers. Every piece was a two-in-one, reversible to cut down on packing, so many of the more logocentric exteriors contained less on-brand interiors. Fendi has a fine way with check and examples here included a laminated-sheen beige-on-cream topcoat and a fantastic tufted and oversize bordeaux, black, and brown–on-blue cousin. Some models pushed aluminum four-wheelers by fellow LVMH luggage specialist Rimowa and one FF-trim blue boilersuited model pushed a luggage trolley heaped with three of them: He said pre-show he’d had ample chance to practice his end-of-runway sharp corner.
For the third collection in a row, Venturini Fendi collaborated with an artist: This season’s new arrival was Glaswegian graphic specialist Reilly, who Venturini Fendi first followed on Instagram after he posted a casually conceived logo clash with her house and Fila. “I thought, Uh oh, I’m going to get sued!” Reilly reported. Instead he was backstage in a raffia-fringed Fendi parka watching his capsule collection of T-shirts and collage-print mainline pieces traveling the runway. The print appeared on shearling-edged, diagonal quilt technicalwear and accessories including the hands-free, headstrap-attached mini umbrellas that were among the coolest accessories in a collection packed to bursting with finery, flair, and wit.
