At Fendi, stealth wealth is here to stay

A year shy of its centenary birthday, Fendi has begun to amp up its profile, and Kim Jones, the brand’s artistic director of couture and womenswear, may have showed his best collection yet for the Italian luxury house.

“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,” Jones said. “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.”

London in the 1980s emerged as a distinctive era for fashion, marked by a confluence of avant-garde creativity and sociocultural dynamism. The times witnessed a remarkable departure from the sartorial conventions of other generations, characterized by bold experimentation and unabashed self-expression. The amalgamation of diverse influences, ranging from music subcultures like New Romanticism and Punk to the burgeoning influence of street style, fostered an eclectic and vibrant fashion landscape, which Mr Jones knows how to translate into today’s zeitgeist.

Roman statues woven into knits, or printed and embroidered onto silk gauze tops, or panelled along one leg of a trouser were equally bold as they were classic. A muted colour palette, that of quiet luxury beiges, dark tones and forest greens, was set off with pops of mauve, lime and electric blue. A two-tone denim dress, cinched at the waist, felt sleek and minimalist, much like the stealth wealth of other looks and proposition.

The strength of Fendi is that its collections can be sold as coveted separates, where each category, be it bags, shoes (those boots!), ready-to-wear and jewellery all have their strengths and commercial prowess.