Fendi’s AW20 show was all about strength: the intimidation of luxury, the pure power of fashion, its transportative aura, the timelessness of glamour. Following straight on from Prada on the Thursday of Milan Fashion Week, Fendi neatly echoed Miuccia’s take on subversive glamour. Both were about femininity and strength, finding new ways for one to reinforce the other, and new joys in old cliches.
This was also all about sex though, and power, “from the boardroom to the bedroom” as the show notes put it, and every facet in between. The show, staged a year after the death of Karl Lagerfeld, in a space lined with snaking light pink velvet sofas, seemed to push towards new ideas for the brand, following Karl’s 54-year tenure. Maybe in the expanded influence of Silvia Venturini Fendi, who had been designing the menswear side of the company before Karl’s death. Her vision has brought a newness and freshness to the brand, a new and personal take on feminism and feminity.
It opened with dramatic plays of volume, engorged Juliet sleeves and slinky bodices. It all seemed to erupt from the waist, flowering out in either sexiness or else something more conservative. It was all very glamourous and grown-up, mixing textures and fabrics — leather and cashmere and lace. The silhouettes came demure, with skirts cut long, enveloping coats, cosy cashmere knitwear. It felt very Roman, very La Dolce Vita, minus the moral collapse. Sex and glamour and power held tightly together.
All of this was buttressed by the casting, which pulled together a diverse clique of supermodels, from Paloma Elsesser to Karen Elson, as well as i-D cover stars Gigi Hadid and Adut Akech. It felt as universal as these things possibly can, which was a show of fierce strength.
Credits
Photography Mitchell Sams