Tropical future

Fendi SS18
By Alex James Taylor | Fashion | 22 September 2017

Ever wondered where Karl Lagerfeld goes on his hols? Perhaps his SS18 Fendi collection – “a swirl of Caribbean colour and flavour”, according to the show notes – revealed the answer: although, does he actually do time off?

“Transport yourself to someplace sunnier”, the house’s Twitter told us, while on the catwalk we were given the quintessential wardrobe for such a journey. Modelled by the ultimate it-model gang –Kaia Gerber, Kendall Jenner and Gigi and Bella Hadid all walked – a breezy summer palette shifted from deep blues to seafoam green and coral pink, punctuated by rich browns that resembled a sumptuous Caribbean spice market, while monkey, banana and Bao-bug logo charms extended the island’s reference. Meanwhile, the house’s iconic FF logo appeared shaved into fur jackets, trench coats and across oversized bags. 

Fendi’s connection with the arts is well documented, the house paid £2m for the recent restoration of the Trevi fountain and plans to launch the new Caravaggio Research Institute were announced earlier this month. Here, that artistic nuance appeared in the form of sharp, architectural shapes. From those razor sharp, blue haircuts – created by Sam McKnight – to the bold silhouettes – that shifted from classical, figure-hugging shapes to more abstract designs (in fact, look 1 resembled Frank Gehry’s distorted architecture) – through contrasting geometric lines caused by the juxtaposition of stripes. Karl later said that these futurist shapes were inspired by the works of Giacomo Balla, whose floral sculptures appeared reimagined as prints across organza blouses, fur and poplin. 

As Henry Mancini’s Lujon breezed around the room, we couldn’t help think of the piece’s use in Jonathan Glazer’s 2000 film Sexy Beast – more for want of that baking Spanish sun than a red raw Ray Winstone in his Speedos.

GALLERYCatwalk images from Fendi WSS18





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