If last season the Fendi man was Being Boring (to borrow from the Pet Shop Boys), this season he was letting wildness creep in. The increasingly iconic Fendi monster (a commercial hit for accessories and bags) was taking over disrupting staples and classics with fuzzy fur (see the fluff peaking out of the seams of sweaters) and rendering fabrics tactile and strokeable (all that mohair and sheepskin).
One got the sense of something more exciting peeking out from underneath a veneer of normality. That idea also came through in the plays on usage; many items served dual purposes, so blankets actually worked as scarves, while pockets on overcoats could be zipped off and used as pouches and other jackets came reversible. There was something of a cartoonish spirit underpinning it all, an air of silliness. It was most obvious in those playful, sweet apple charms that hung from bags, and more subtly in the ultra thick cord, which looked like it had been blown up to appear deliberately exaggerated, and the colour pop pockets on trouser in cheerful turquoise and red. It's apt that proceedings felt a bit childish as Silvia Venturini seemed to be targeting some kind of 'man-child' with this collection. Her show notes spoke of a simple soul: 'All that he may need during a work lunch break is a blanket to rest on, an apple to eat, a soccer ball to play, a bag to carry the kit and a park.' It's hardly the sophisticated depiction of manhood and masculinity you'd except from a luxury house but then Fendi are maybe trying to extend their reach beyond the existing luxury shopper and existing conservative consumers. They've just announced that they'll be launching their own e-commerce so maybe all this frivolity was an attempt to pull in a younger man with new tastes.
Indeed, a less traditional shopper would certainly be turned on by the delightfully silly hoods on outerwear that, when pulled down, served as a monster disguise. He'd also probably have fun with the hoods with a mow-hawk of fur sewn down them, giving the wearer a temporary punkish do. At points there seemed to be a bit of a struggle between tradition and fun and frolics, but this certainly felt more optimistic and forward-thinking, and less oppressively opulent, than some Fendi collections from recent seasons. The Fendi man is better a bit wilder and rough around the edges; after all, the Monster creature is his mascot.
