Kim Jones made his Fendi debut with a haute couture collection featuring the likes of Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Bella Hadid.
In September last year, Fendi announced that designer Kim Jones would be taking over the role as artistic director for Fendi womenswear. This came roughly a year after the passing of the late Karl Lagerfield. Since the announcement, anticipation for Jones’s collection has been mounting considering his lengthy resume, which includes creative director of Louis Vuitton and Dior menswear.
There has also been hesitation considering Jones has never designed a full collection for women or couture. And his streetwear influence has people wondering if his tastes and experience will not translate well.
The Fendi show was digital, with no live audience. Another change was that it was the first Spring Summer collection for the Roman house. Up until now, they had only showed one couture collection in July.
Pioneering Women
The collection opened with a black off-the-shoulder pantsuit worn by actress Demi Moore. This was perhaps the most understated look from the collection. There was greater emphasis on dramatic sheer fabrics, beading, patterns and more elaborate tailoring to showcase the craftsmanship of the brand’s petit mains.
Overall, the looks were more wearable than perhaps other haute couture collections, explained by the Spring Summer timeline as well as Jones wanting to reflect “the reality of what women around me are wearing. I have friends that just buy couture clothes, and they don’t buy big ball gowns. They buy real clothes, things that fit their bodies.”
Jones cites Virginia Woolf’s Orlando (novel that explores gender and sexuality) as an inspiration for the collection. This was evident with the mix of masculine and feminine styling and the models themselves.
Jones also named the the Bloomsbury Group (a group of 20th century creatives and intellectuals that Woolf was a part of) as an inspiration and used the show to pay homage to:
“strong women, intelligent women, who know what they’re doing in their lives. Pioneering women, like the Bloomsbury women, like the women in the show…”
This focus on pioneering women is why the show featured many recognisable faces like the aforementioned Demi Moore, Bella Hadid, Christy Turlington, Kate and Lila Moss, Naomi Campbell and Adwoa Aboah.
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