Fendi Faces the Future as it Marks 100 Years of Italian Style
Review of Fendi Fall 2025 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Fast Forward, Time to Reflect, Fur’s the Word
In a once-in-a-centenary celebration, Silvia Venturini Fendi activated a flashback of core Fendi memories for the gathered crowd who numbered in their 100s at their revamped Via Solari 35 space in Milan.
Launched in 1925 by Adele and Edoardo Fendi the house began as a fur and leather shop (to align with the times they went fur-free in 2022) in Rome, before evolving into a boutique store. Now 2025 is set to be a year of multiple celebrations as the house marks 100 years since it was founded, with five generations keeping the house within the family, to where we are today with Silvia Venturini Fendi as the latest to steer the brand her grandparents started into the future. And so it was that fall 2025 was a culmination of ten decades of Italian craftsmanship which was all about the need to “flashback to fast forward”. It is also a full-circle moment that a woman should be back running the creative direction of the brand which was led by the 5 Fendi sisters – Alda, Anna, Carla, Franca and Paola. Silvia Venturini Fendi, who has now taken sole control of creative direction, joined in 1994 where she worked side-by-side with Karl Lagerfeld, and was responsible for designing one of the worlds most iconic bags i.e. the Baguette Bag, still regarded as a must-have by any self-respecting industry insider.
Fendi’s first runway show may still be a memory from the recent past (for some of the brands patrons) as their first runway show was presented in 1977 with Karl Lagerfeld at the helm. He also created the famed double F logo (1966) and took the brand global, expanding into the US and Asia with its line of commercial furs (1969). Today, in what felt like a fitting tribute, each historic salon had its moment in the spotlight, as some of their greatest hits and iconic signatures were revisited and refreshed – from the Karl Lagerfeld and Kim Jones years.
Known for a “heightened sense of glamour” Fendi has always been a firm favourite with the Jetset and Glitterati and in returning to their roots, from the very first look which entered the pink-carpeted show space through a set of floor-to ceiling double doors (opened rather sweetly by her 7-year old grandchildren Dardo and Tazio dressed in matching fur ensembles that were a replica of those worn by a 7-year old Silvia Venturini Fendi in 1967), it was a sign that the Fendi woman was back. But who is this woman? Well, in light of all that is happening in the political sphere, here was a self-assured woman who dresses for herself, is fully aware of how to weld her femininity, and will happily don a full-length (faux) fur coat, because in the winter we wear fur. She’s neither New Age nor post-feminist, but she presents as if she could run a Fortune 500 company in her spare time, such were the strength of the silhouettes presented as part of the 80+ women’s (and mens) looks.
As explained in todays press notes “Clothes become characters, and characters become their clothes, as the Women’s and Men’s collections are intertwined with sartorial traditions ad subversive takes on Italian sophistication.” And the main character in the Fendi story, which can’t be ignored, is the significance of the luxe material from which the house was built. Hence why it featured heavily, albeit it in its newer politically correct iteration, it exuded no less luxury status than had it have been made from real mink or rabbit. Furs in varying natural tones were belted and worn as coat dresses and maxi coats, stoles, XL scarves, dyed in the Fendi house colours, and “dazzling Op-Art coats finished not in print, but as plush geometric intarsias” chiming with the rise in fur as a fashion staple. Its ironic that as designers go fur-free, fur coats – especially those that can boast of being a vintage find or family heirloom – have once-again taken to the streets and the runways for both men and women. Elsewhere the focus was on the hourglass (representing both feminine curves and ‘infinity’) as a lesson in how not to shy away from conceit, which has become a dirty word in the wider world, yet here having an excess of pride (especially in ones appearance) is practically mandatory. With belts cinching waists to create the effect, a pleated pussy-bow dress worn by 1990s supermodel icon Eva Herzigova with gold satin boots would be the calling card for conceit. Worked into leather effortlessly created Italian ‘Power Dressing’ looks, especially as dark-hued fit and flare dresses, sharp pencil skirts, and even a leopard print quartet of matching skirt set, bag and boots saw the return of the dressing with confidence mindset that feels right for this moment in time.
Soundtracked by Michel Gaubert who selected a mix which poignantly featured Barry White’s ‘Never Gonna Give Ya Up’ from 1973, it was a perfectly timed theme tune as the family affair that is Fendi is something that both this and the next generation shouldn’t plan on doing anytime soon.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
FENDI reminds me of the future, I didn’t want to spend too much time dwelling on the physical archives. For me, FENDI 100 is more about my personal memories – real or imagined – of what FENDI was and what FENDI means today“
Silvia Venturini Fendi, Creative Director, Fendi
THE WRAP UP
Seeking to avoid any undue influence from the past (the reason why it was referred to as a flash[back] rather than a rumination), past collections are simply alluded to with only an essence of their impact appearing on the runway today, as Silvia Venturini Fendi expressed “I didn’t want to spend to much time dwelling on the physical archives. For me, FENDI 100 is more about my personal memories – real or imagined – of what FENDI was and what FENDI means today.” A bold decision for a show marking such a significant milestone, but it is how the brand will be able to face forward, but taking the spirit of the time (‘lo spirito del tempo’ the title of todays press release) and making it relevant for today.
