“I was looking at 1984 in the FENDI archives. The sketches reminded me of London during that period: the Blitz Kids, the New Romantics, the adoption of workwear, aristocratic style, Japanese style…” says Kim Jones, Artistic Director of Couture and Womenswear.
“It was a point when British subcultures and styles became global and absorbed global influences. Yet still with a British elegance in ease and not giving a damn what anybody else thinks, something that chimes with Roman style. FENDI has a background in utility. And the way the Fendi family dresses, it’s really with an eye on that. I remember when I first met Silvia Venturini Fendi, she was wearing a very chic utilitarian suit – almost a Safari suit. That fundamentally shaped my view of what FENDI is: it is how a woman dresses that has something substantial to do. And she can have fun while doing it.”
Utilitarian and extravagant. Simple and theatrical. Salon and street. Town and country. It is an amalgam of each, where tradition meets subversion in blasé British style, that unites it with its Roman counterpart. At the same time, for the women who wear these clothes, it is fundamentally about doing something rather than just being something.
In the latest collection, Kim Jones explores an ease of dressing where London nonchalance meets Roman freedom, and utility becomes a statement of intent. Here luxury is found in the sumptuous comfort and strident confidence the clothing and accessories give the wearer to express themselves. Simultaneously practical and playful, a sense of duality – a very FENDI quality – infuses the collection.
Simultaneously, FENDI’s past is made present in recurring codes and motifs that stretch back to the beginnings of the house. With 2025’s centenary in mind, the linking thread of the Selleria once more ties the present to the past, as a motif in garments and leathergoods. From its initial inspiration and creation by Roman master saddlers, the Selleria finds form this season perhaps most startlingly in the leather riding boots that dominate the collection, the Chupa Chups® lollipop holder – Salvador Dalí drew the logo after all which is now united with FF wrapping – and in the designs by Delfina Delettrez Fendi, Artistic Director of Jewellery. Here, metal thread hardware is stitched through statement leather bangles, while its meaning is echoed again in giant leather and metal chains.
