The Fendi woman might not have wanted to get out of bed this season but beneath the huge padded coats and loose, careless hair was a knife-edge sharpness of precision. Flowers tucked into handbags were spiky instead of twee; Bardot lined eyes were not soft but bold and textured like black feathers and even white sheepskin embraced its tough side wrapped around wedged, perspex-heeled ankle boots. There was irony too, as Karl Lagerfeld does so well.
Tropes of the young artist; overalls, jeans, panels of leather and loose white shirts were a uniform for the smartest studio imaginable, while the duvet coats were big enough to live in, which would likely come in quite handy for artists trying their luck in this economic climate. Fur was (obviously) everywhere starting with super-soft Pebbles-esque pinafores, consuming the legs of trousers and finally engulfing an almost impossibly radiant Lindsey Wixson for the final look. Patchwork, rich brown coats were luxurious but tactile and modern - ideal for the type of woman who inherits furs and then takes a pair of scissors to them. Big pockets, visible buttons and loose trousers emphasized the idea that these are clothes with purpose and conviction. With this collection Fendi confirms what we’re seeing across the whole of Milan; it-girls are back, but boy have they changed.
