Fendi’s Elevated Slumbering for the Everyday
Review of Fendi Spring 2025 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Underwear as Outerwear, slumber time, lounge layering
Fendi’s centenary is nearly upon us and in a precursor to what is set to be a year of mega activations, the brands artistic director Kim Jones looked to the dynamism of the time when the brand was founded. Bringing those modernist ideas from that time into the now. Choosing to amalgamate couture and ready-to-wear, in this way there was a “Bringing together [of] the hand and machine-made, evening and daywear, there is an elevation and celebration of the everyday with the arrival of the FENDI centenary this season.” according to todays show notes.
To paraphrase a trend prediction, from almost a decade ago, by one of the most renowned future forecasters Li Edelkoort, she said “We will all return to the bed”, and todays Fendi collection was made for just that, leisurely slumbering between the covers. Preferably indulging in a forbidden tryst, as the scenario would be fitting of these luxurious under-layers.
The simple act of sleep has become a contentious subject of late, as post-pandemic our homes have become our offices, classrooms, and gyms, with the long term effects of the lack of separation yet to be fully felt. A positive side effect of this semi-nesting phenomenon (through necessity rather than choice) is that the fashion industry has shifted to meet the needs of this evolved consumer. In the way we have seen slipper-style shoes, and flats in general take over, ‘comfort’ driving the rise in elevated loungewear, and styling underwear-as-outerwear becoming an acceptable way to dress before leaving the house. In today’s Fendi collection Jones took inspiration from the full breadth of the intimates category and dissected how lingerie details and textiles could inform more than slip dress and camisoles. Here there were dove grey clipped ‘shearling’ coats which could have doubled as robes, (night) shirt dresses deconstructed for day, and an upside-down tank dress, also seen last season at Courrèges, but it was no less fun seeing it employed here. It will be interesting to see how the Fendi woman decides to style it when it hits stores.
What was an unfortunate false start to the second wave of the ‘Roaring Twenties’ due to unprecedented events at the start of 2020 – where it was predicted by numerous forecasting agency’s that we would relive a hedonistic time of prosperity and artistic freedom – an attempt to revisit the idea is starting to crop up during this spring season, and it will remain to be seen if Paris follows suit.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
“The foundations of how women dress today and, in many ways, how we think are in the 1920s. It’s about modernity in style and attitude”Kim Jones, Artistic Director of Couture and Womenswear, Fendi
THE WRAP UP
Conscious that the Fendi woman is one who “does” rather than simply “is”, the strong matriarchal thread across a generation of Fendi women continues to influence today. So, it was key that this collection was one of “excellence and ease” according to todays notes, ensuring that women could life their lives in, and through it via the virtues of movement and lightness. Perhaps this was also part of what informed the practical decision of a collaboration with Red Wing on the rugged footwear which gave each delicate look a dose of reality.
