Scene setting: Guests still reeling from the caramel luggage carousel last season were jolted into a new mood as they walked into a darkened room for the S/S 2019 show. The brand’s headquarters had been transformed into a high-gloss grotto designed by Italian multimedia artist Nico Vascellari. Models emerged from a blackout chamber featuring a trompe l’oeil Perspex cave, splattered in illuminated drawings of tiny demons, FF-forked snakes, cards and dice.
Mood board: Vascellari’s playing cards depicting the FENDI monster as king, Silvia Venturini Fendi as queen and Karl Lagerfeld as the ‘JoKarl’ glowered across accessories and t-shirts. As always there was an athletic performance-wear focus to the clothes, including short shorts (as at Prada, Versace and No.21), knitted polos and a playful use of perforated textiles.
Team work: The house’s collaboration with guest artists always creates newsworthy buzz. Last season, Fendi worked with digital collagist @hey_reilly’s range of humorous graphics, which re-appropriated the FILA logo for the brand. For S/S 2019 FENDI worked with Vascellari, known for his playful interpretations of anagrams and magic of the natural world. He teasingly switched the house logo to read FIEND; ROMA read AMORE. The iconic FF was rendered in naïve watercolour across technical fabrics; fur was pushed through a softer monogram on a leather shirt jacket.
