As the Sister Sledge dancefloor classic, Lost in Music joyfully arrived as the opening soundtrack, this collection was about 'executive realness, on the verge of the weekend.' The show notes began with the words 'FENDI Friday! FENDI Fri-yay!' After last season's 'hope' and 'love' manifesto - and a rather impressive ad campaign to go with it, that was being shown in the entrance as guests walked in - this collection looked at first glance to be much more classic and pared down. Primary colours were this season replaced by beige, olive and camel. There were beautiful tracksuit-like constructions, shell pink and leather PVC paneled trenches and silk paneled baseball jackets. A seventies feel arrived via brown suedes and shiny leather.
Lots of transparent Madras style plaids reminded one of tracing paper – also called to mind corporate charts, spreads sheets and graphs. After the show, people were heard using the adjective 'exciting' to describe these pieces. They felt street-style ready that’s for sure. Clever chevron decon-recon pieces saw suede, nylon transparencies and texture worked together to achieve both volume and groundedness. The blouson shapes created were airy and directional. The show notes also talked about the idea of being 'dressed for Skype', this anthropological observation of how we engage - and dress - within the digital space was a witty one. Mismatched tops and bottoms and fronts and back were referred to as 'the Skype look'. The contribution of Sue Tilley, previous sitter for Lucien Freud, friend of Leigh Bowery – and now artist herself – provided some banal yet charming illustrations, used as prints on pieces such as the new Mini Peekaboo Fit. Cups of tea, desk lamps, a banana and a corkscrew were some of the objects that added a note of much needed character and nonchalant eccentricity to the show. Tapping into Prada’s show this season, and Fendi’s slogans last season, the show notes also talked of British artist Sue Tilley’s adding 'a comic, souvenir touch.' I guess this show was an evolution of sorts, after all.
