Fendi is bringing back the art of dressing
Silvia Venturini Fendi didn’t hesitate: “We’ve had enough of streetwear. This is the moment to talk about a new sophistication,” she said before her Fendi men’s show. She dedicated it to a post-pandemic cause: bringing back elegant menswear, and updating an old-world gentleman’s wardrobe for new generations, who may have grown up wearing track pants and tennis socks to dinner, but will surely start craving the finer things sooner or later? “There are things that will never go away – I love sneakers, they’re so practical and nice – but you can’t just have that. It’s nice to have the freedom to combine things. It’s about teaching them again to recognise quality, to buy less but better, and that will bring us towards a new sophistication,” Venturini said.
It was post-pandemic occasion wear
Imagining a dandy of the post-digital age, Venturini hacked up the classic tailoring volume and played with its proportions. The approach birthed a series of mutated suits, from cape-sleeved blazers to cropped blazers and those in between, and trousers that were either super slouchy, chopped-off, or enveloped in floor-length skirts. She layered those silhouettes with generous overcoats and capes, retaining a pristine line that was ultimately attractive – especially in a pandemic that won’t seem to quit. “It’s about the classic wardrobe. I wanted to work on the idea of the ceremony of dressing up. Maybe we have less occasions now, but the ones we have, we have to celebrate. There’s nothing more beautiful than starting the day with dressing yourself up. It’s a way of living your day with care,” Venturini said.
Behold, the neo-dandy
Venturini sent her models down a raised runway shaped like a double-F and bathed them in a dusty light that felt as tactile as the fabrics she called precious. “We know that people will now buy less but better, so I wanted to concentrate on really beautiful fabrics,” she explained, listing her choices of soft cashmeres and wools paired with silks and shearling. “Anything that has a sensuality.” The preciousness was underlined by hints of romanticism: little flower corsages, transparent knee-high socks, knitted ruffs, and pearl necklaces. If it hinted at a neo-dandyism, it wouldn’t be so strange. A quest for “uninterrupted sublimity”, as Baudelaire put it, is always a reaction to its opposite. Such as lockdown dressing. “We have to fight, in a way, against the conditions,” Venturini said, referring not to Covid restrictions but the wardrobe they’ve spawned. “I don’t want to lose the beauty of celebrating occasions. Maybe we have less, but we have more to celebrate.”
Venturini sent her models down a raised runway shaped like a double-F and bathed them in a dusty light that felt as tactile as the fabrics she called precious. “We know that people will now buy less but better, so I wanted to concentrate on really beautiful fabrics,” she explained, listing her choices of soft cashmeres and wools paired with silks and shearling. “Anything that has a sensuality.” The preciousness was underlined by hints of romanticism: little flower corsages, transparent knee-high socks, knitted ruffs, and pearl necklaces. If it hinted at a neo-dandyism, it wouldn’t be so strange. A quest for “uninterrupted sublimity”, as Baudelaire put it, is always a reaction to its opposite. Such as lockdown dressing. “We have to fight, in a way, against the conditions,” Venturini said, referring not to Covid restrictions but the wardrobe they’ve spawned. “I don’t want to lose the beauty of celebrating occasions. Maybe we have less, but we have more to celebrate.”
Get ready for the male décolleté
Within her elegance, Venturini chopped off the collars of jackets and knitted cut-outs into the chests of her jumpers and djellabas to reveal a daring male décolleté. “I think it’s elegant,” she said. “It’s an old word, which, to me, has something we can use today after these years of dressing in sweatshirts and pyjamas. It’s formal, but in an informal way. It’s about the attitude and the volume, which is more of today.” For the generation whose youth has been affected by the lockdowns, creating dress codes for the future is, in itself, a reaction to constriction. “They’ll want to have a lot of freedom, not just physically but in the way they dress and express themselves. It’s a moment when we have to break every rule. There’s nothing more important than that,” Venturini said.
Within her elegance, Venturini chopped off the collars of jackets and knitted cut-outs into the chests of her jumpers and djellabas to reveal a daring male décolleté. “I think it’s elegant,” she said. “It’s an old word, which, to me, has something we can use today after these years of dressing in sweatshirts and pyjamas. It’s formal, but in an informal way. It’s about the attitude and the volume, which is more of today.” For the generation whose youth has been affected by the lockdowns, creating dress codes for the future is, in itself, a reaction to constriction. “They’ll want to have a lot of freedom, not just physically but in the way they dress and express themselves. It’s a moment when we have to break every rule. There’s nothing more important than that,” Venturini said.
Fendi launched its first crypto wallet
Speaking of future dress codes, Venturini – an accessories magician – used the show as an opportunity to launch her perhaps most forward-thinking accessory to date: a crypto currency wallet in collaboration with the digital asset management platform, Ledger. Created in the shape of the Fendi O’Lock logo designed by her daughter Delfina Delettrez – and which also graced the collection’s prints and buckles – the wallet was created to bridge reality with the metaverse. “It brings the two worlds together,” Venturini said. “It’s something we have to learn little by little, all of us.” Is the Fendi matriarch putting personal investment into crypto currency? “I’m not, but I never say never.”
Speaking of future dress codes, Venturini – an accessories magician – used the show as an opportunity to launch her perhaps most forward-thinking accessory to date: a crypto currency wallet in collaboration with the digital asset management platform, Ledger. Created in the shape of the Fendi O’Lock logo designed by her daughter Delfina Delettrez – and which also graced the collection’s prints and buckles – the wallet was created to bridge reality with the metaverse. “It brings the two worlds together,” Venturini said. “It’s something we have to learn little by little, all of us.” Is the Fendi matriarch putting personal investment into crypto currency? “I’m not, but I never say never.”
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