• Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Watches & Jewellery
  • Culture
  • SUSTAINABILITY
  • Female TV
  • #WHATTHEFEMALE
  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Watches & Jewellery
  • Culture
  • SUSTAINABILITY
  • FemaleTV
  • #Whatthefemale
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
Subscribe Now!
  • Also available at:
Privacy Menu 1
  • About Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Contact
  • Conditions of Access
  • PDPA
  • Privacy Policy
SPH Media

MCI (P) 047/10/2021. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2022 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.

  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Watches & Jewellery
  • Culture
  • SUSTAINABILITY
  • Female TV
  • #WHATTHEFEMALE

Fashion

This Is How Kim Jones Is Remaking History At Fendi

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Fashion

This Is How Kim Jones Is Remaking History At Fendi

A new era for the 96-year-old roman luxury house of Fendi is here: the debut ready-to-wear collection from its new head of womenswear Kim Jones. Gordon Ng reports on how the designer known for his forward-thinking ways is remaking history.

by Gordon Ng  /   September 27, 2021
fendi

Staged among vitrines to evoke Roman antiquity, Kim Jones' debut for Fendi conjured up the old world meeting the new. Credit: Fendi

The London-born designer Kim Jones is well-loved for many things – among them being a leading name in directional menswear and a power broker of high fashion-streetwear collaborations. Now, this celebrated trailblazer (legitimately a title he was crowned with at the British Fashion Council’s Fashion Awards two years ago) is breaking new ground by venturing into women’s clothing at Fendi.

fendi
Credit:Fendi

Kim Jones, artistic director of womenswear at Fendi at the finale of his first ready-to-wear show for the brand.

There are a host of beautiful creations in his first ready-to-wear collection as the brand’s artistic director for womenswear. Languorous draped silks that breezily embody Roman classicism, and perfectly cut outerwear and shirting that demonstrate his chops as a maestro of menswear tropes, for example. That he can design great fashion is obvious.

READ NEXT: Fendi S/S ’22: A Disco Party Reigns Supreme

What’s most remarkable about Jones, however, is that he’s one of the industry’s best at corralling talent. That’s exceptionally important at Fendi, which is one of only a handful of legacy brands that still have family members in major design roles. Here he’s working alongside two generations of women with their names above the door: Silvia Venturini Fendi, who heads menswear and accessories, as well as her daughter Delfina Delettrez Fendi, who had recently joined the company as creative director of jewellery.

fendi
Credit:Casper Sejersen/Fendi

Kim Jones makes a commanding statement with his ready-to-wear debut as Fendi’s artistic director of womenswear with a brand new clutch-style handbag dubbed Fendi First, distinguished by an oversized clasp in the shape of the letter “F”.

At Dior and Louis Vuitton, where he remains and was at the helm of menswear respectively, his blockbuster collaborations were external – with streetwear brands, artists and artistes. At Fendi, he has begun his tenure by looking instead inwards at its namesake family.

One of his key inspirations for this outing was the style of the five formidable Fendi sisters who put the brand on the global map, not least by hiring his predecessor, the late Karl Lagerfeld, in 1965. Or more specifically, the timeless Italian chic and sensibility of a dynasty of women Jones
describe as “of intellect who work hard”.

READ NEXT: This Bag From Fendi Is Going To Be A Cult Hit

At the same time, Jones drew inspiration from Silvia’s utilitarian uniform of work jackets, casting them with a luxurious, no-nonsense eye in the form of handsome shearling coats. And from Delfina: a series of dresses cut like smoking jackets referencing her proclivity for feminine tailoring.

fendi
Credit:Casper Sejersen/Fendi

More firsts from Jones that are in fact an ode to Fendi’s history: the Fendi First wedge mules with an architectural heel inspired by an archive design and the Fendi Touch handbag of which elegant simplicity can be said to have been inspired by the practical sensibility of the Fendi sisters.

Look even closer and there are plenty of other nods to Fendi’s history. The Karligraphy script monogram that Lagerfeld introduced in 1981 and revived in his last collection for the house in Fall/Winter 2019, for example, is baked into the collection’s multitude of finishes: laser-cut onto suede; embroidered onto satin sleeve hems; printed onto silks; woven into hosiery fabrics; even made into customised buttons. Or take how Jones has translated the raised stitch detail of the house’s Selleria line of leather goods into a decorative detail on the lapels of trench coats and more of the brand’s signature bags.

It’s a markedly different take from when Silvia ran the show solo following Lagerfeld’s passing two years ago. Her approach had a more playful energy compared to Jones’ stately contemplation. If one were to imagine them looking through a family photo album together, he would be the wide-eyed friend asking the elder Fendi for a slower, more careful examination.

fendi
Credit:Fendi

The debuting artistic director’s wit is in the details in this monotone, neutral-hued collection – from the brand’s Selleria stitch interpreted into an embossed relief on coat lapels to the signature Sunshine Shopper given its plushest makeover yet.

That’s not to say that his ready-to-wear debut at Fendi is retrospective. As he has throughout his career, this collection also made a statement about the brand’s future. The jewellery had a particular significance: Delfina – a fourth-generation Fendi – deftly updates the classic square FF logo with an oval, carabiner-like shape across an inventive range of jewellery and even hair barrettes dubbed the O’Lock.

Then there are the brand-new bag and shoe styles that feature a sculptural “F” motif from the archives, including a sumptuous clutch with the aforementioned detail for its entire fastening. Its equally bold choice of name: the Fendi First. Consider that a symbolic christening that represents the opening of a new chapter; a first of things to come with Jones at the helm.


Related Articles

Fendi S/S ’22: Disco Glamour Reigns Supreme

Keeping The Faith: How Pieter Mulier Is Shaping The Alaia Narrative

Simone Rocha S/S ’22: Something Angelic, Something Gothic

https://www.femalemag.com.sg/gallery/fashion/this-is-how-kim-jones-is-remaking-history-at-fendi/
This Is How Kim Jones Is Remaking History At Fendi
image

The tactile takeaway from Kim Jones’ first Fendi collection is a panoply of plush knitwear separates. The colour story – blush pink cashmere here – extends to accessories like the fur-adorned Fendi First mules with a sculptural FF heel.

Casper Sejersen/Fendi
image

This draped style of dress is one of Jones’ key silhouettes for Fendi. The silk scarf-style cut of the dress is juxtaposed with masculine elements like oversized cuffs.

Casper Sejersen/Fendi
image

The O’Lock line of jewellery is Delfina Delettrez Fendi’s first collection as creative director of jewellery at the Roman house. The FF logo is reinterpreted as a rounded, carabiner shape – applied to styles as varied as chunky earrings, necklaces and hair clips. On the leather coat’s lapels: raised stitching details that echo the design of the house’s Selleria line of hand-made leather bags.

Fendi
image

Kim Jones’ first key bag design for Fendi: the First, immediately recognisable by its slouchy pouch shape and the oversized leather-bound F clasp.

Fendi
image

The Peekaboo bag’s most exciting seasonal update: a stretched, East-West shape with the Selleria stitching detail rendered in gold-tone metal hardware.

Fendi
  • TAGS:
  • delfina delettrez
  • dior
  • fashion
  • fendi
  • fendi first
  • Kim jones
  • louis vuitton
  • silvia venturini fendi
  • womenswear
SHARE THIS ON

Trending

Fashion

25 Singapore Guys Show What Sartorial Liberation Looks Like Today

Fashion

The First Drop Of The Adidas X Gucci Collab Is Here

Fashion

The Gen Z Fashion Parade At Pink Dot 2022

Fashion

What Went Down At The Gucci x Adidas Party

Fashion

Singapore Male Model Srri Ramm Makes Runway Debut At Jacquemus

Fashion

From Fandi Ahmad To The Vogue In Progress Crew, These Are The Friends Of FEMALE

Fashion

Pre-Fall 2022 Bag Primer: A Playful Take On Shapes And Silhouettes

Fashion

This Chanel Collection Will Put You In A Holiday Mood 24/7

Fashion

Longchamp's Le Pliage Adds Yet Another Eco-Friendly Line To The Mix

Fashion

Just How Buzzy Is Mushroom Leather? Stella McCartney Is Launching A Bag Made From It

Fashion

Do Clothes Maketh The Man?

Fashion

Watch Lisa Blackpink Get Ready For The Celine Homme Summer '23 Show In Paris

Editor’s Picks
  • Fashion The First Drop Of The Adidas X Gucci Collab Is Here
  • Fashion The Gen Z Fashion Parade At Pink Dot 2022
  • Fashion What Went Down At The Gucci x Adidas Party
  • Fashion Singapore Male Model Srri Ramm Makes Runway Debut At Jacquemus
  • Fashion Pre-Fall 2022 Bag Primer: A Playful Take On Shapes And Silhouettes
  • Fashion This Chanel Collection Will Put You In A Holiday Mood 24/7
Female Newsletter
Sign up for one of our free newsletters to receive the latest news, commentary and fashion features straight from FEMALE.

By signing up, you indicate that you have read and agreed with our Privacy Statement
Footer Menu
  • About Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact Us
  • Conditions of Access
  • PDPA
  • Privacy Policy
?>">
SPH Media

MCI (P) 047/10/2021. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2022 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.