Taking the ancient city to the future, Kim Jones presents a sci-fi take on Rome for Fendi Haute Couture SS22. Much like Schiaparelli, Fendi tends to the otherworldly, though rather than adorning his models in sharp tailoring with elements of existentialism, Jones draws upon the historic codes of the Rome – the city Fendi calls home – and adapts them within a futuristic framework.
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“When you walk down the street in Rome, you are constantly moving back and forth in time,” explains Kim Jones. “Where we work feels very modern, but you pass monuments on the way there. There’s a total timelessness to the city: a historic vein which runs through it, but also a movement that is projecting forwards.”
Looking to the heavens, Jones creates his garments for a hypothetical army of empresses, “whose divine purity is infused with celestial power.” Set to a synth-heavy soundtrack by musician Jon Hopkins, Fendi Haute Couture SS22 fuses contemporary craftsmanship with sci-fi silhouettes, while elsewhere codes of the ancient city and ecclesiastical iconography meet a futuristic astral fantasy. Fluid drapery takes centre stage, with kaftan jumpsuits and sheath dresses appearing to be cut from liquid silk looking right at home next to a mink cape and velvet dress hand-painted in chiaroscuro with the statues located outside the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana. Elsewhere, an otherwise classically simple white column dress is applied with the contours of a Roman fountain.
Masterful drapery contributes to the distortion of luxurious fabrics, providing garments with a dark, otherworldly effect. Heat moulded leathers embroidered with micro sequins, pearls, and mink speak to Corinthian architecture, wherein exposed underpinnings reveal that the true spirit of couture lies in its construction. Jewellery by Delfina Delettrez – the daughter of Silvia Venturini Fendi – utilises the discovered remnants of an ancient civilisation. Natural crystal geodes and amethyst shoot out from jewellery, while pieces like spiky black ear cuffs and knuckle rings lend a sense of edge to the otherwise romantic collection.
If there is indeed an army of empresses residing in the heavens, Fendi Haute Couture SS22 is certainly an apt sartorial match for them. Though whether for the heaven-residers or land-dwellers, Jones translates the futuristic and fantastical into something wearable and beautiful. “That’s what my vision for FENDI is all about,” he says. “Celebrating the power of women.”
Words by AR Staff
