THE REVIVAL OF ETERNAL LIBERTY

Fendi Men's Spring/Summer 2024 Collection is an ode to the inspiring culture and life of Rome

- ALISON LOH

“ROME IS A PLACE that takes in the city and the seaside. It is a dialogue that has an ancient history as well as a modern one, from Petronious to Pasolini,” says Kim Jones, Fendi’s artistic director of couture and womenswear.

“It’s a story that continues today, about pleasure, leisure, work and drama — in other words, life. I wanted the collection to reflect this and expand on the idea of Roman freedom; that elegance in ease and not caring what anybody else thinks, about people who dress for themselves and their own lives. It is about the confidence and chicness that comes with that, of not being something but being someone.”

The pull of this eternal city and its coast, of urban life and the sun-drenched retreat, feature as both part of the myth and reality of Roman life. A sense of duality once more permeates the Spring/Summer collection, from the city street to the beach, from the pragmatic to the playful, the muted to the vibrant.

It all sums up in a revived and summery version of the signature Pequin, the black and tobacco vertical ‘logo no logo’ pattern, originally designed by Karl Lagerfeld in 1983. Pure expression of whispered luxury now reinterpreted in bicolour variations of bright hues and pale neutrals, yellow, light blue, beige, and dark blue.