Kim Jones has been at the helm of Fendi for a while now and since day one, he has been struck by the brand’s immense resources – the world-renowned ateliers, a vast archive showcasing over 54 years of fur and ready-to-wear designs by the late great Karl Lagerfeld, and a group of stylish women from the founding Roman family. One of these women, Delfina Delettrez Fendi, is particularly noteworthy. Not only does she have access to her mother Silvia Venturini Fendi’s wardrobe but she also effortlessly blends her style with her own flair. In 2016, she was named one of Vanity Fair’s International Best Dressed List.
Jones vividly recalls the brown and pale blue outfit Delettrez Fendi wore on his first day at Fendi. She informed him that she sourced it from a shop in Rome that stocks clothes for nuns. This color combination inspired Jones and he used it in his Fall/Winter 2023 collection for Fendi, adding a punk twist to the traditional Italian chic.
Jones describes Delettrez Fendi as a sophisticated working mother who lives and enjoys life. He admires her as a person and finds her to be an inspiration. This could also be said of the Fendi customer, as the designer keeps a close eye on what sells and focuses on knitwear, dresses, and tailoring. He sticks to long slender silhouettes, disrupted with asymmetric cutting and added harness-like straps and slashes.
The designer drew inspiration from his Spring/Summer 2023 Haute Couture collection for Fendi, including body-skimming shapes, lingerie elements, and fluttering capes that were tacked to black satin gowns with scooped necklines and draped fronts. He also reprised his cashmere couture coats lined with shimmering sequins. The slim coats were statement pieces in Persian lamb, off-white shearling, or gray flannel.
The collection was a team effort, with Venturini Fendi, the artistic director of accessories and menswear collections, debuting the new shape-shifting Multi bag, and Delettrez Fendi, the jewelry creative director, interpreting the double-F logo as a metallic object that locks on the ear. The minimal set, a tunnel of light, was reminiscent of a mesmerizing John Galliano show in 2009.
