By The Fashion Editorial Team
FENDI continues its centennial celebration with a sweeping gesture of over five generations of heritage in its new Fall/Winter 2025 campaign. Titled 1925 - 2025: Lo Spirito del Tempo, Silvia Venturini Fendi reflects upon her grandparents' founding of the house:
"FENDI reminds me of the future. I didn’t want to spend too much time dwelling on the physical archives. For me, FENDI 100 is more about my personal memories – real or imagined – of what FENDI was and what FENDI means today.”
Earlier this year, Roman luxury house kicked off its one hundred year milestone with a breathtaking show at its newly renovated headquarters in Milan and received a limited edition Italian postage stamp. Central to the narrative is revisiting historic salons on Via Borgognona in Rome, where five Fendi sisters—Alda, Carla, Franca, and Paola—hosted clients of haute couture by day and jet-set celebrities from Cinecittà (cinema city) by night as they passed down stories through generations. The campaign's central theme revolves around "FENDI-ness," a blend of irony, humor, and traditional Italian style that embodies the essence of the brand.
In the coming Fall/Winter 2025 collection, tailoring is exact and defining as textures challenge perceptions. Flared silhouettes and cinched waists evoke ancient Roman grandeur, while the house's signature intarsia techniques feature fox, lamb, and sable shearlings to unparalleled effect. The hourglass silhouette is distilled into satin balza skirts, flounced corolla jackets, and rounded sleeves, all set against a spectrum of colors inspired by Rome at dusk: warm greens, fiery blues, and sunset hues. Menswear leans into powerful looks where proportions are playfully exaggerated and conceived in luxurious lambskin. In contrast, men's cabans are offered in muted compact wool hues for a subtle yet refined aesthetic.
New in accessories collection reimagines House signatures. The Giano moon-shaped purse twists from clutch to shoulder bag in two-tone calfskin, while the Spy Bag returns deconstructed with twisted shearling straps, joined by sleek versions of the Peekaboo and Mamma Baguette with intricate intarsia and disco sequins. For men, luxurious soft zipped duffelets and hobo bags are offered in supple leathers and metallic accents. Meanwhile, jewelry receives FENDI-ness textural treatment across chandelier earrings, snake chain collars, and sterling silver pendants, embodying a signature blend of opulence and playfulness.
In the luminous and polished campaign, we are reminded of the FENDI approach to carefree and luxurious living. Whether in the show invite, an accordion-folded photo album of 60s and 70s archival photographs bound in Selleria stitch, where Karl Lagerfeld's inaugural FENDI collection in 1966 hints at the house's coming gilded age, or in the 7-year-old twins, Dardo and Tazio, who commenced the centennial show, we are reminded of the lasting influence of family and heritage. For over one hundred years, the house of FENDI achieves what few luxury houses can claim: a true generational family affair that embodies both unparalleled luxury and timeless traditions passed down through generations.
