With their heads held high, they collide between minimalist ease and on-trend eclecticism, exuding an air of casualness and fearlessness.
At the turn of the century, under the bustling city streets and the bustling traffic of the century, there are a series of representatives of elite female images. They strut their heads high, exuding a casual and fearless atmosphere, but they look absolutely neat and fashionable. You can’t bear it. Take a few more glances: such a fashion design style with the characteristics of the times – the collision between the minimalist ease and the popular eclecticism, has become the theme of the FENDI 2023 spring and summer women’s wear show.
Through the personal perspective and style proposition of brand director Kim Jones, along with the context of FENDI’s past era, this season he captured the pragmatism behind luxury from the brand perspective that has always emphasized “duality”. As he puts it: “One of the things that interests me most about FENDI is its exploration of functional utility while interpreting femininity – women at FENDI are determined and enjoy busy and fulfilling lives.”
Looking back at Karl Lagerfeld’s dream-making period when he was in charge of FENDI, especially his creations from 1996 to 2002, it attracted Jones’ attention: using the ingredients in pasta as inspiration, he created the ready-to-wear in the spring and summer series of the season. Prints, jewelry and accessories; it just so happens that this series of floral patterns from the FENDI archives and a logo born in 2000 have been extended by Jones to become the nostalgic quality of this series, and at the same time, it has been reimagined in a modern context. , many of which are strongly reserved for the needs of contemporary people’s daily wear.
“This season’s design theme is continuity. I’d love to see designs from Karl’s perspective and explore how they can be enhanced visually and technically,” says Kim Jones.
In Karl Lagerfeld’s FENDI autumn-winter 1993-1994 collection, the classic Il Pazzo fur was born: brown weasel, sable, mink and beaver furs are hand-stitched in a variety of fabrics on a silk mesh base. A waterfall effect of “a cascata”.
And such a drape waterfall effect, in Jones’s hands, through the interpretation of fabrics that meet the needs of modern wear, presents another elegant and free scene. A new dimension of spirituality opens up: dynamic and feminine, natural and refined, creating a very modern feminine look.
And City Lady, who walks freely in the city, also needs to be nurtured by natural elements. The eye-catching high-saturation colors are not only on the ready-to-wear, but together with the layout of the show, it seems to be in a strange and dazzling world.
A large number of vivid greens, bright pinks, and cornflower blues are filled with luster that is exclusive to high-saturation colors. The eye-catching bright colors break the coordination of the original neutral tones and subvert the color of the original leather material of FENDI. keynote,
But at the same time, they are integrated with each other: through organically textured materials, such as cashmere and fur, shearling and leather, and FENDI’s proud craftsmanship, it presents an unprecedented sense of lightness without sacrificing luxury benchmark.
Not only luxury and practicality, but another characteristic of FENDI’s duality also represents the splicing of design techniques, as Karl Lagerfeld carried out in 1995 in the field of fur countless design experiments: cutting raw materials, processing techniques, and fabrics. The special treatment of his dominated this design period.
For Jones, this “splicing” is a combination of lightweight leather and technical fabrics in this season’s presentation; smooth satin and mesh mix and match, while also highlighting tennis shoes or rubber platform shoes. texture.
It is worth mentioning that the inverted “F” letter in FENDI First is like an illusory suspension beam supporting the design of this season’s shoes, reflecting Jones’ deep understanding of the delicate harmony between FENDI’s form and function.
In Karl Lagerfeld’s early works, a new columnar series of ready-to-wear was created with the design of vertical lines, which is the “power form” dress that countless women desire: the architectural structure is expressed from the graphic design, and the soaring stand collar is used. as the best display.
And Jones, who is good at drawing inspiration from the history of FENDI, further evolves the unique fashion language of that era in the contemporary era. For example, he applies the oriental wide belt from the FENDI 2022 autumn and winter haute couture series to this spring and summer women’s clothing show. Thereby enhancing the sense of shape of tailor-made clothing, showing a morphological structure full of femininity.
Kim Jones said: “Practicality and luxury are always at the forefront of my mind at FENDI. Incorporating heavy metal accents into extremely soft pieces provides both true functionality and fun.” The mosaic technique that FENDI showed most vividly in the 2000-2001 autumn and winter series coincides: the geometric patterns and materials of various colors, or the design of circles or squares, spliced together to represent FENDI’s unique traditional craftsmanship.
In the design of trousers, the inlay of such metal accessories has been intuitively displayed to maximize the effect. The pocket features originally belonging to overalls have been transplanted to the mixture of drapey satin and technical fabrics. An atmosphere that belongs to modern wear arises spontaneously: with a little street casual and uninhibited, but without losing the comfortable practicality and the eye-catching luxury essence.
The craftsmanship and duality that belong to FENDI have never been absent in accessories and jewelry, and in the spring and summer series full of lightness attributes, many interesting and experimental new designs have also been added.
As Delfina Delettrez Fendi herself mentioned: “We explore the combination of rigidity and softness, quietly integrating the Logo into the functional structure that hangs each gemstone.” This concept is greatly displayed in this season’s accessories jewelry collection. Extraordinary colors: For example, the Peekaboo, which has been cut in half, reveals its internal structure and becomes one of the main elements of this season; a steel F letter ornament sticks out of the bag and becomes the handle of the bag.
FENDI’s iconic bag embodies the spirit of duality that runs through the collection.
High-gloss leather meets crisp canvas; natural-hued body covered in gorgeous, eye-catching prints; sophisticated chain construction or simple pairings. Silvia Venturini Fendi said: “At FENDI, everything comes from the dialogue around the double F, which makes us accustomed to seeing things in pairs. Even handbags have become domestic: different sizes.” The extended concept has fully injected the pragmatic style into FENDI’s bag DNA, which is refreshing and recognizable at the same time.
Everything expanded by the dualistic spirit of FENDI, whether it is present or past, luxury and practicality, or splicing and independence, regards all design languages as being able to merge and collide with each other, and at the same time generate new inspirations.
Kim Jones fully understands how to use FENDI’s vast archives and ingenious craftsmanship to constantly reshape and recreate this quality so that it can reflect what people wear and think in today’s era. We never completely forget the past, this is like a basic principle of fashion introductory, it is always in a loop, but it continues to spiral upwards from this foundation, new things can emerge and new appearances, and they all point to one point in the end : “The FENDI ladies of the moment are determined, enjoying a busy and fulfilling life.”