For FW17, Roman fashion house Fendi introduced us to a new and daring muse based on a “cinematic character pacing the streets of the Italian capital at dawn”. The words conjured images of Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960) when Marcello Mastroianni and femme fatale Sylvia Rank, dressed in a gown, take their infamous moonlight dip – the epitome of sensuality and old Italian glamour.

The collection fuelled such themes: models with nipped waists and thigh high red patent boots were at once chic and explicitly sexual. Throughout the show models wore long fitted coats with deep mink cuffs and trims, slit to flash shiny leather pencil skirts. Elsewhere, in a game of conceal and reveal, plunging bodysuits were overlaid billowing sheer black, ivory and scarlet dresses with cleverly placed organza florals. This carnal seduction played contrast the rest of the collection, where Karl Lagerfeld focused more on classic values and traditional Italian style via shirting, double breasted tailoring, soft a-line skirts and silk dresses.

The decorative elements were inspired by Viennese woodblock printing and 18th century Italian papiers dominoteìs, which came to life in an array of mosaic techniques: from the graceful geometric patterns to cut-out knitwear, marquetry furs and the acanthus leaf printed silk – one of the most iconic motifs of ancient Rome.