“The desire to celebrate is back.” So believes Silvia Venturini Fendi, as she reflected on the “dressing ceremony, which we’ve risked losing” given the lack of special moments in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now she feels “this need has returned in full force.”
The collection she presented for fall was clearly aimed at meeting that need. The looks were polished and blended dandy touches and feminine elements but were never too formal. For example, traditional Vichy tweeds and houndstooth patterns were revisited, either scaled down or up.
Venturini Fendi worked with new proportions and mixed different shapes, returning to the cropped double-breasted jacket she presented for spring but also offering more fluid volumes.
“I hate the word comfort — we’ve been wearing pajamas and sweats for too long — but nobody wants to feel constrained in rigid or formal clothes,” she said.
Accordingly, blazers looked like capes and coats opened on the sides or the back to allow freedom of movement and the addition of inserts. Pants were also slit on the back of the ankles. Bermudas were roomy and wide pants swayed with a trailing half-skirt. Outerwear was marked by dropped shoulders and Dolman sleeves.
Fendi’s craftsmanship was reflected in the etched O’Lock shearling and a complex intarsia shearling. The O’Lock chain motif appeared as a new monogram on pieces.
The color palette was mainly understated and natural, with touches of strong raspberry and mocha as the designer emphasized the textures and the bold graphic patterns.
The Fendi man is no wallflower and is sure to have fun with the brand’s array of accessories including, this season, plenty of jewelry. While “cufflinks used to be their must-have jewels,” said the designer, now it’s time for men to sport delicate floral brooches, crystal FF pendants and O’Lock chokers, as well as that evergreen string of pearls.
And what better way to dress up than to carry a Baguette in the same fabric as the clothes — “almost an extension” of the garments, said Venturini Fendi — or supersized as an FF-embossed soft trunk. On the other end of the spectrum, the brand’s signature bestseller was shrunk as a miniature chain bag or shown in metal and Plexiglas.
Other accessories included two-tone wingtip Chelsea boots, patent O’Lock loafers with scalloped trims and a new sneaker with a stretched FF logo. The Peekaboo bag was pared back to a large, structured shopper with FF logo paneling, also shown in the season’s Vichy check wool, named Peekaboo FForty8.
There were plenty of striking sunglasses and the designer turned one of the most classic men’s accessories into “a fetish,” displaying watches on Mary Jane brogues closed with wristwatch straps.
Venturini Fendi also presented the brand’s first wallet for cryptocurrency as both the O’Lock motif and the Baguette design were transformed into luxury tech accessories for the Ledger Nano X, the leading digital hardware wallet for cryptocurrency and digital assets.
Whatever the currency, Fendi’s fall collection will have customers reaching for their wallets.
