Dear Shaded Viewers,
Kim Jones debuted his first ready-to-wear collection for Fendi with a livestream catwalk held at the Fendi maze, filled with historical monuments portraying the richness of Rome where the brand was first founded.
The big takeaway from the collection was simple, “clothes that women will want to buy. I’m not gonna lie. I think that’s what my job is. I want all my friends to go, ‘I want that straight away,’” the designer explained in an interview prior to the show. For Kim Jones, this meant making clothes suitable for the real world, to be worn for all occasions. A luxurious self-indulgence as the designer called it… a pleasure for the wearer.
The show starts off with soft camel tones finding its way towards more constructed, crispier, darker silhouettes. Of course, featuring the most awaited item; fur. Fendi is most well-known for being a fur house and this collection did not shy away from re-establishing the house’s codes for ‘Fun Fur’. Quite a challenge in these times to not feel a bit of guilt while making statements with such a controversial item, but in this case Fendi seems obliged to answer the wishes of their clients and looking for new ways to work around the product more ethically.
Another takeaway from this season was that after stepping into Karl Lagerfeld’s shoes, Kim Jones has no desire to rewrite what Fendi stands for. Instead he respects the house he serves, understanding the value of family which is so deeply rooted in the matriarchal brand.
This collection was a clean start into the world of Fendi, taking its inspiration from its archive and trying to “lighten it so it fits life nowadays but still has that integrity and beauty.”
