Yesterday Fendi had bought a much-needed smile to our faces, with releasing its sartorially otherworldly SS21 show for Haute Couture week. The collection was the debut of new creative director for couture and womenswear; Kim Jones, who was heavily inspired by Virginia Woolf’s novel of British romance; Orlando, as well as the Baroque sculptures of Italian artist Bernini that would be admired in the Borghese gallery.
The contemporary set up of the runway can be described as geometric groups of reflective glass panelling that forms a glass maze for the models to walk through, with each glass unit housing a decoration that pays homage to the literary works of Bloomsbury or marble flooring reminiscent of Italian classicism.
One of the focal points from the show is none other than the stellar line up of models from both the 1990’s supermodel generation with the likes of Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and Christy Turlington, as well as the modern-day poster girls such as Bella Hadid, Adwoa Aboah and Cara Delevigne.
As we were greeted with the familiar faces of fashion, we were equally greeted with the stunning creations of Jones; iridescent organza dresses that draped to the floor, embellished beaded gowns that had trains worthy of royalty, and tailored printed velvet suits that merged the classical beauty of English botany and contemporary marble.
Additionally, the hair and makeup made a statement of its own with hair director Sam Mcknight creating wet and wavy hairstyles inspired by Venetian mermaid hair that glistened under the show lights. To complement this, Fendi’s jewellery director Delfina Delettrez Fendi had created beautiful ceramic swirls that sat elegantly on the models’ hair in a range of colours, alongside abstract earrings made of Murano glass that fell to the shoulders.
Elsewhere in the show, we saw inclusivity and a paid homage to gender fluidity by Kim jones, as tailored menswear outfits and models were included in the line up under the work of Fendi’s own creative director for menswear Silvia Venturini Fendi, which even featured dramatic red lip make up look on the men as envisioned by the head of makeup, Peter Phillips.
Words by Sophia Zenonos
