Fendi's Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2022 Show Takes On Elegance and Simplicity
Soft and flowy silhouettes are spotted on the runway as Kim Jones weaves traditional techniques and textiles of Kyoto, Rome and Paris.
In continuation of Fendi’s heritage, Creative Director Kim Jones approaches the couture collection with renditions and fragments of the House’s past, making up its present while subtly progressing into its future. While celebrating the couture traditions of emblematic dressmaking and tailoring, Jones presents a collection highlighting the fusion of modern entities where opulent and exaggerated silhouettes are replaced by minimal and wearable structures.
Drawing exquisite parallels between the East and West, Jones looks at the fragmentary nature of things as a remembrance of memories and recollection of the past, present and future. “This season, I wanted to step away from Rome, or at least I wanted to place Rome in a global context,” says Kim Jones. Unveiled at the Palais Brongniart, it expresses the Roman roots of the maison while supporting the cultural heritage of Rome — Home to the late Karl Lagerfeld and Fendi.
From the cultural capital of Japan, Jones takes notes from the kimono fabric created in the 18th century with the adoption of ancient hand printing and painting technique, Kata Yuzen, to manipulate the fabrication. The collection saw traditional silk panels (manufactured in Kyoto) refashioned into asymmetrical floor-length dresses with assortments of prints and textiles and metallic embellishments.
Cascading Acer palmatum leaves dubbed “Ode to Autumn” in the 1700s were seen throughout in a range of forms and silhouettes, particularly in the intricate embroideries in the final tulle gowns of the collection, bringing the show to an escalation.
No Fendi collection is complete without the utilisation of sheer and delicate fabrics. With its intricate construction, it elevates the sleek and uncomplicated designs to superior heights. The fine and filmy textile yields a sense of romanticism and femininity, enhancing the female body and creating agency for the women in the clothing.
Influenced by French “Japonisme” - an enduring movement of Japanese art and design in the West, Jones incorporates Italian tailoring and the iconography of Japonisme compositions in the light and ethereal garments.
The show kicks off with masculine codes of tailoring in Vicuna fabric suiting and cognac calf leather pieces lined and quilted with traditional Japanese fabrics. The Fendi Fur atelier flaunts its distinguished skills in the intarsia construction of the shaved mink suiting.
Purity and simplicity are indeed the essences of the collection as Fendi continues to elevate the codes of Haute Couture fashion.
Take a closer look at the rest of the collection here:
