For A/W 17, it’s a pop art inspired collection from Fendi. Inspired by a love for bright colour as a style statement, and a love for a slogan, this was a tightly edited collection that was direct, contained and commercially charged.
Like a comic strip-inspired painting by Roy Lichtenstein, unapologetic shades of pink, yellow, green and orange saw the second to last day of Milan fashion week close with a POW! Apart from 'FENDI' in caps being placed across the front of many a woollen hat, words such as 'TRY', 'FANTASTIC', 'HOPE', 'LOVE' and 'YES' provided several positive caption options for the life of a Fendi guy. Almost like #hashtags, these slogans are about as Instagram friendly as you can get. In the age of fashion that is created for the Internet, colour and caption was put to good use. Friends of the brand also posed backstage, sharing images online whilst holding hand held cardboard speech bubbles – complete with 'FENDI' slogans too.
Some of the gloves and hats on the runway also had a more poignant option of 'THINK' written on them, whilst yellow sweaters with 'YELLOW' logos on them veered on the postmodern ridiculous.
Slogans on t-shirts keep re-emerging as 'a thing', most recently within the S/S 17 womenswear collections at Christian Dior and Haider Ackerman. Whether executed correctly or not, this is fashion emulating pop culture - and pop politics.
The show notes talked about 'clothing as concise as slogans: essential, performing, REAL.' Quilting was a major component of the realness. Besides one multicoloured fur coat, the majority of outerwear comprised of nylon, neoprene or padded leather. Shades of khaki lent a punkish military edge. Highlights within the collection included an F bubble-print design, and a travel pillow worn as a streetwear item. Fendi menswear seeks to reassure - and basically just be your pal. Offering everyday basics in upbeat ways, RELIABLE now wants to be FUN.
