Silvia Venturini Fendi described it as “a solar mood”: that anxiety-free state of sun-kissed, serotonin-boosted, high-summer bliss that the Italians—with their enviably looong August holiday—know exactly how to cultivate. She said that she gets her solar hit at the family house on Ponza. “The island between Rome and Naples where you can see the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets, I think, in the world . . . I think when you are in this period of year, you feel more liberated and relaxed than at any time, and you have that feeling of being ready for new experiences.”
Today’s theme—summer for a Spring/Summer collection—was probably purposefully straightforward in a season that represents both a reset and a new experience for Venturini Fendi. She has, for many years, had her hand in the creation of Fendi womenswear, but as she said of Karl Lagerfeld, “He was the captain! So my life has changed in the way that now I decide. Before, there was a dialogue, a big dialogue. So today I feel the responsibility very much because the choices are mine—no compromise.”
That is not to say she is alone. She cited her team, “who is always there.” Charlotte Stockdale, Amanda Harlech, and Venturini Fendi’s daughters Delfina and Leonetta are key creative counselors: “They are always tough enough to tell me the truth. I think it is important to surround yourself with people who don’t always say, ‘This is beautiful.’”
The sun rose on Fendi’s new day to reveal a languidly relaxed collection of clothing into which was embedded the artisanal expertise for which the house is renowned. A double-face, vaguely psychedelic, floral-print Lycra shirt’s collar and cuffs were etched in mink. A long, floral Lycra robe-jacket featured overlaid panels of dyed floral-pattern fur, which matched fur-floral beach totes. Wide-weave bags in brown ribbons of leather were intertwined with ribbons of yellow-dyed fur. Brown suede wrap dresses and trenches, lightly perforated to let the breeze pass through, were engagingly loose. A long, Fendi-brown micro-check skirt made of opaque organza was worn beneath a wide-gauge knit racer-back tank with a dipping side-split hem.
Also opaque yet still visible was an imprint of Venturini Fendi’s own personal style in the superlight organic washed-cotton workwear pieces—most of all the jacket worn by Selena Forrest—which the designer said she had placed against synthetic twists (such as Forrest’s shiny green-check organza shirt) to mirror the day-to-day yin and yang of digital life and real. The use of some relatively humble materials—a white terry skirt beneath that fur Lycra shirt, the quilted cotton “shower curtain” floral dress at the end—reflected her will to make a collection that would be desired as much for its wearability as its editorial appeal. This carried through into the wedge moccasins—“not a single high heel in the show!”—and a slouchy, heavily textured pink cardigan worn over a tiered organza and floral-print fur dress.
“You think of the practicality of things,” said Venturini Fendi. “I want women to feel natural and good in these clothes.” Nobody knows Fendi like a Fendi.
