From Princess Anne to princely menswear

Silvia Fendi keeps on getting more inventive. Admirably so, in her latest menswear show on Saturday for Fendi, the key Italian fashion house in LVMH’s mammoth luxury empire.

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Silvia’s starting point was Princess Anne, seen at the center of her mood board, and the result was a fall/winter 24/25 blossoming with great product.
 
“I gave the collection the title of ‘Town and Country’,” explained Silvia, in a backstage crammed with chisel-jawed urban Asian stars.

Judging by this collection, the house is clearly expecting another very rough winter, with Barbour-style parkas and safari jackets made in the Fendi double ‘F’ monogram. The sense of quality was inspiring; from trompe l’oeil gray shaven mink safaris, to deerskin parkas and iced huge fox fur  
coats.
 
“The Fendi man, great classics with an attitude for today. Clothes that you can keep all your life. Began with Princess Anne. But starting a men’s collection with a woman is not a problem to my mind. I like her use of masculine clothes and the way she wears tartan,” Silvia told FashionNetwork.com in the backstage.

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The result was a series of skirts, skorts and kilts, cut below the knee or shortened culotte style. Blending elements that could have come from your grandfather’s wardrobe with new elements. And always including a sense of humor – like the shaven fur reinterpretation of the common or garden plastic coffee.
 
In effect, since the passing of Karl Lagerfeld and the arrival of Kim Jones as Fendi’s women’s creative director, Silvia has been able to concentrate on menswear. The result is that Fendi menswear in recent years has consistently been a top 10 show on the international calendar.
 
Fendi is very much the Italian fashion star of LVMH, which already in total employs 13,000 people on the peninsula, a number that will rise to 15,000 in the next couple of years.
 
The French conglomerate has invested heavily in Italy, and smartly tapped into the country’s unique artisan skills. So much so, that next month in Milano, it will celebrate the LVMH Premio Maestri d’Eccellenza, its highest honor for skilled craftspeople.
 
Expect Fendi to play a prominent role in that event.