Fendi autumn/winter 2024 collection
Each season, we break down everything you need to know about the new collections in The Fashion Week Cheat Sheet. After speaking to the designers about their inspiration, their hero pieces, the faces on the catwalk and the names on the front row, we present your complete guide to autumn/winter 2024.
This season, Kim Jones looked to Britain for inspiration, or more precisely, to 1980s' London. The designer – who unofficially kicked off Milan Fashion Week with Fendi's autumn/winter 2024 show yesterday – found inspiration in the house's archives, and in the way that Brits were dressing in the Eighties.
"Utilitarian and extravagant. Simple and theatrical. Salon and street. Town and country. It is an amalgam of each, where tradition meets subversion in blasé British style, that unites it with its Roman counterpart," he explained. "At the same time, for the women who wear these clothes, it is fundamentally about doing something rather than just being something."
Bringing together these ideas made for a utilitarian collection, with a touch of humour.
LAUNCHMETRICS SPOTLIGHT
LAUNCHMETRICS SPOTLIGHT
Theme and inspiration
"I was looking at 1984 in the Fendi archives," Jones explains. "The sketches reminded me of London during that period: the Blitz Kids, the New Romantics, the adoption of workwear, aristocratic style, Japanese style. 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."
LAUNCHMETRICS SPOTLIGHT
LAUNCHMETRICS SPOTLIGHT
Jones showed lots of leather, shearling and tailoring, juxtaposed with hooded dresses and bodysuits, which were worn undone and open, while coats were belted like dressing gowns and knitwear was layered on top of itself. There were also plenty of utilitarian-inspired pieces in the collection, which was a direct reference to Silvia Venturini Fendi.
"Fendi has a background in utility," adds Jones. "And the way the Fendi family dresses, it’s really with an eye on that. I remember when I first met Silvia, she was wearing a very chic utilitarian suit – almost a safari suit. That fundamentally shaped my view of what Fendi is: it is how a woman dresses that has something substantial to do. And she can have fun while doing it."
LAUNCHMETRICS SPOTLIGHT
LAUNCHMETRICS SPOTLIGHT
Hero pieces
The deconstructed knitwear and shearling coats will no doubt be a hit, but it's Fendi, so there's also always one eye on the accessories. This season, new versions of house icons including the Peekaboo, Baguette and By The Way were presented in natural hues and some in squished silhouettes, while two new bags were introduced, Simply Fendi, which is a soft satchel and the Roll bag, a rounded shopper.
Jacopo Raule//Getty Images
Who was there?
Amber Valletta, Marisa Abela and Jessica Biel were among the names on the front row.
Jacopo M. Raule//Getty Images
To catch up on more from the Milan, London and New York shows, head this way.
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