We’ve been locked away so long, this is what we need!
For his second ready-to-wear show at Fendi, artistic director of womenswear Kim Jones took everyone to the glamorous disco dancefloor of the 1970s.
In a nod to Studio 54, models sashayed down the catwalk for the spring/summer 2022 womenswear show. “This is my first live show for Fendi, and it’s a celebration,” Jones said. “Our woman has let loose a bit —she’s going out, dressing up. We’ve all been locked away for so long that I think that’s what we all need right now.”
The designer took inspiration from a hand-sketched logo by fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez, which he found in the brand's archives, as the foundation for his collection. “While I’ve been looking at Karl (Lagerfeld)’s legacy at the house, I’ve also been looking around him, at his contemporaries — at who he was interested in,” explained Jones. “Lopez was a friend of Karl’s, and has always been someone who inspired me. He was forward thinking, inclusive, looked up to by everyone from Andy Warhol to Steven Meisel and David Hockney. I wanted to introduce him to a new generation.”
Jones collaborated with The Estate and Archive of Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos, taking inspiration from Lopez’s figurative drawings and translated into intarsia leathers, intricately engineered lace and shimmering jacquards.
The collection featured a color palette of white, soft gray, pink, blue, chocolate brown, and black on pieces that included slit coats, wide-leg trouser suits worn with bralettes, tassel dresses, cream kaftans, silken shirting — some with Lopez’s gestural brushstrokes — and Fendi’s signature furry coats.
Aside from the clothes, the collection also featured Fendi’s iconic bags, which became canvases both for Lopez’s work and the renowned savoir-faire of the house’s ateliers: a Baguette tapestry woven into a rainbow and a Peekaboo transformed into a graphic artwork.
Accessories also gave a fashionable twist to complete the look. Lilies adapted from Lopez’s illustrative motifs become enamel hair accessories; Plexiglass hoops and degradé metals offer a tropical touch imbued with decadence. Encased in resin, the Fendi First heel is given a Seventies spin; in shimmering leathers and saturated stripes, the Fendi First bag embodies a bold attitude.
The spirit of women like Jerry Hall, Tina Chow, Pat Cleveland, Bianca Jagger, and Grace Jones, whom Lopez often discovered on dancefloors and always exalted in his work, introduced a high-octane energy and a new dimension into Jones’ continued celebration of female confidence. “My Fendi is multi-generational. It’s for all different kinds of women —anyone who wants to feel good about themselves,” the designer reflects. “The Lopez woman and the Fendi woman is empowered. She’s someone of her own making.”
* * *
The Fendi boutique is located at Solaire Manila or visit www.Fendi.com.
