A house is nothing without its atelier, and Silvia Venturini Fendi knows this better than anyone. After all, the Italian institution was raised by maison’s namesake matriarch, privy to its glamorous facade and the inner workings that make the magic. With this in mind, the SS24 menswear collection, delivered inside the new Fendi factory, read like a heartfelt ode to the artisans and craftspeople behind the Baguettes and Peekaboos that decorate department stores the world over.
And so, before any clothes hit the runway, the audience were given ample time to inspect and watch as in-house workers hammered, tweaked and laser-cut bags – a sneak peek that set the tone for the evening’s sartorial proceedings.
Taking direct inspiration from the factory uniforms, then tweaking them with typical Mrs Fendi cheek, the collection was anchored in archetypal workwear. “Almost everything comes back to utility and the apron,” says Julian Ganio, who styled the show. Indeed, the apron incorporated itself into various forms, from wraparound skirts that double up as a workman’s belt to denim dungaree skirt suits. Work shirts featured loops to attach measuring tape, while double-F bags shaped like pencil pots served as coffee holders.
The homage was playful but delivered in earnest. Rather than feeling gimmicky, the factory theme delivered a wider vision of elegance, developing Mrs Fendi’s obsession with traditions and uniform into something more opulent. Of course, that’s not to say the Fendi factory worker’s standard issue uniform is anything less than chic, but until now, it had remained an internal, corporate code.
On feet, something akin to Crocs, suitably elevated in buttery, high shine leather with bouldering ecru soles, stomped down the catwalk as Italo music thumped in the background. Work desks behind the audience’s seats were illuminated under strobing LEDs. Bizarrely, the Fendi craftspeople sat there barely looked up from their tables, beavering away at leather bags, unphased by the celebrity-laden audience in spitting distance.
Across one model’s torso, a hardy harness complete with compartments for pattern hammers, bevelling tools and cutting pliers was elevated with double-F stitching, cementing two sides of the brand into one. It became clear that the house of Fendi is large enough for several walks of life; be it the gentleman of AW22, the cosy lotus picker of SS23 or SS24’s salt-of-the-earth fashionista.
Heck, even the shirts riffed on worker garb. Sliced diagonally across the shoulder for an apron string cut, khaki green stripes led up to a collar, the shirt sleeves draped across the back, ready to tie up or hang loose. Besides these sexier numbers and a healthy display of nape, upper back and below, camp nods appeared in tool-printed silks, cottons dotted with pattern-cutting lines and Fendi nametags clipped onto overcoat pockets. One suit, also sliced at the shoulders, substituted traditional pinstripes for a more literal take on the pattern, dotting blazer and trousers with white thread, as if the clothes were still being fitted.
Peppered among these nods to craft, more classically luxurious pieces – like oatmeal tracksuits blasted in knitted logos and tufted car coats — served as reminders of what Fendi’s workforce does. Meanwhile cardboard box bags and fabric swatch-book accessories harked back to the respectable reality of its makers.
On the surface, the concept was simple, if not banal, but the effect was breath-taking, summoning new silhouettes for men to rock from workbench to the weekend. It’s an exceptionally wearable collection that despite its grounded premise, feels worlds away from mediocrity. But that’s to be expected.
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Sure, for many, their job in the Fendi factory might be a mere nine-to-five covering the bills amidst inflation, but the job itself is one rooted in historical skills you can’t learn overnight. It’s refreshing, particularly in an age where showmanship reigns supreme, and terms like billionaire bore-core are thrown around willy-nilly. What’s wrong with an honest day’s work?
Learning a trade, mastering the tools or paying your dues — call it what you want, but it’s going nowhere. Even when AI rules the world, and humans are reduced to idle, workless, consumptive vessels, no amount of algorithmic learning will muster up the handiwork last night presented. The show closed with Silvia and the factory team filing down the runway. Silvia’s smile said it all: without them, none of this would be here.
Credits
Images courtesy of Spotlight