For the FENDI Fall 2024 ad campaign, tradition meets subversion in blasé British style and unites it with its Roman counterpart.
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.
Starting with the rigour of tailoring, a feminine sensibility that embraces the austerity of sinuous lines in a more rounded silhouette, utilises the graphic precision of rich, compact wools. While layered wool coats are casually tied and belted, borrowing more from the language of robes. Utilitarian dresses take on a more ‘tailored flou’ sensibility, simultaneously practical and elegant with toughness in attitude and are contrasted with tulle and organza transparencies, printed with Roman statuary or embroidered with disruptive dots. At the same time, shearlings and leathers come into their own with a tour de force of techniques, at once displaying Fendi’s artisanal prowess and subverting expectations of the tradition.
In the bags by Silvia Venturini Fendi, Artistic Director of Accessories and Menswear, past styles are deconstructed and revivified, constructions softened and reconfigured. Eschewing embellishment and embracing tactility and utility, sumptuous leathers in rich, natural colours dominate new versions of Peekaboo, Baguette and By The Way bags. While introducing the new Simply Fendi, a soft satchel that is accompanied by the Roll bag, a new rounded shopper.