Fendi, sensual, minimalist chic for a cosmic lady

On Thursday, Fendi presented a highly chic collection of sober, close-fitting silhouettes in a rigorous monochrome. For Spring-Summer 2024 haute couture, creative director Kim Jones, who also oversees women’s ready-to-wear in addition to Dior‘s men’s collections, continued to explore minimalist fashion as he did last season. He imagined a sensual women with a futuristic edge, highlighting incredible textures.

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The show opened with black or white total looks of minimalist elegance and simplicity. Strapless dresses that fell straight down to the calves, tight-fitting dresses in ultra-fine knits woven from a mix of cashmere and vicuna yarns and men’s jackets in masculine wool. Top and skirt ensembles in crocodile skin, a material also used to make small jackets and coats.
 
This austerity was jostled by a touch of sexiness here and there. For example, in the vestal tunics cut from transparent voile or silk gazar, or in the lacing-detail that evoked the art of shibari (Japanese bondage), as well as in the tied tops that covered just the chest and wraped around the neck and shoulders.

Fluctuating, glittering effects also added a magnetic energy to the ensemble, with bubbling skirts made from metallic fringes scattered with sequins. These garland-like decorations also took over the forearms in glamorous gloves, and some of the bags.
 
An incredible amount of research has gone into textures, where the Roman house of the LVMH group seems to have transposed the refined craft techniques developed in fur, its original core business. For example, the fringes of a thread that was both silky and rigid resembled silver fur in a long coat, or brown fur in a voluminous jacket. Hand-embroidered fringes in the shape of extra-light feathers moved sinuously, as in certain pelisses, in bronze-coloured skirts and in a long blue-green dress.

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The galactic spirit was underlined by light, futuristic eyewear and a series of sparkling silver outfits. From asymmetrical dresses in shades of white and black, adorned with a constellation of crystals, to body-hugging mesh dresses, a mermaid outfit all in reflective scales, and a shell suit for boarding a space shuttle dipped in silver.

At the end of the show, Kim Jones, whose future at Fendi appears to be in jeopardy, was greeted very briefly. The front row of the show, held once again at the Palais Brongniart, included actress Adèle Exarchopoulos, as well as a host of luxury group executives, including Fendi CEO Serge Brunschwig, Michaël Burke, who now heads up LVMH’s fashion division, and his predecessor Sidney Toledano.