From the unprecedented perspective of the FENDI headquarters inside the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, the landscape sprawls out in a 360° vista towards the seven hills of Rome, the Apennine mountains and glimpses of the Mediterranean Sea. Nature and architecture melt into a spectacular canvas of soft colour, evolving through the course of the day to reveal the dynamic topography of the region in an infinitely changing light. “How you see things – and from where you see them – has never been more important,” says Silvia Venturini Fendi, Artistic Director of FENDI Accessories and Menswear. “Our singular point of view in this period has modified our perception of the world – and mine has become so linked to what I see from the arches and the rooftop of our building. It is almost like a bird’s eye view of Rome from here. The colours and the perspective are always changing – the soft palette of the Roman sky across the day is so beautiful and I wanted it to be a focal point of this collection.”
Reflections on watching the world from above have inspired the FENDI Men’s Spring/Summer 2022 collection, a rich interplay of lightness and ease with a laser sharp focus on the future of luxury. A subtle palette echoes spring flora and the transient skies in pastel shots of lemon and lime, ice blue, lavender, pistachio and peony against mineral shades of travertine, chalk, graphite and slate. Like a daydream from FENDI to the world, the immediate surroundings of the Roman hinterland inform prints, shapes and workmanship, in an effortless study of proportions and scale. Plucked from the FENDI archives, an illustrated map of Rome becomes FENDI Land, a cartographic drawing of the city where the Palazzo Fendi springs up at its centre and the Tiber river flows through a labyrinth of buildings and streets adorned here and there with freehand FF logos. In a harmonious suite of topographic simulations entitled FENDI Earth, abstract contoured motifs float across linen silk suiting, jacquard denim, plush crochet tees and intarsia shearling.
The conceptual distortion of scale creates new tailoring volumes, as hybrid summer suiting combines a multitude of materials, shapes and utility details. Abbreviated wool jackets are cropped at the torso or split with nylon organza and peak lapel linen blazers are fitted with pen pockets and earpods compartments. Pockets drop beneath hemlines and jackets unbutton down the hips, whilst below the waist multi-pocket city shorts define the silhouette alongside straight trousers split at the ankle or panelled in a binary of double cotton and suede.
New outerwear exhibits the inimitable prowess of the FENDI leather atelier, with vented trench coats, roomy windcheaters and overshirts punctuated by Selleria stitching and embossed detailing on reversible suede, calfskin and sustainable garment-dyed cotton. Shirting in crisp poplin or light woven cashmere features fabric buttons for an all-over monochrome tonality broken elsewhere by a series of collaged fabrications featuring mismatched jacquard collars and striped cotton sleeves. Knits follow the engineered contours of the FENDI Earth motifs in featherweight cashmere intarsia ensembles alongside zipped two-tone double cashmere and polo tops in ribbed or crochet cotton. Mock neck pullovers and tees in crochet mink scoop up in the front, exposing utility belts strung with FENDI loop charms.
The FENDI Men’s Spring/Summer 2022 accessories collection is a playful escape from reality, subverting everyday objects with the heights of FENDI craftsmanship. Swimming goggles and swimming caps in collaboration with ARENA join ping-pong racket bags as ironic summer essentials, and the Baguette is shrunk as a jewellery pouch on a fine waist chain. The Peekaboo appears in matte nylon, finished with burnished edges or Selleria macro stitches, while the Baguette returns as a roomy messenger or perspex clutch. New luggage shapes in canvas and printed FF logo mesh feature a bonded convex profile for a ‘fisheye’ effect, and the new Fendiness utility buckle appears on a series of nylon webbing backpacks and crossbody styles.
Evolving from the moulded FENDI Flow sneaker, buckled sandal styles join a monochrome slip-on knit sneaker with injected appliqué details in a pastel palette. Soft suede desert boots with FF logo buckles expound upon the season’s outdoor inspirations alongside flatform wicker double strap sandals finished in plush details or Selleria stitching.
Directed by Nico Vascellari, the FENDI Men’s Spring/Summer 2022 collection film is a majestic ode to the Roman landscape with an homage to the tropes of early science fiction cinema. Mapping the parameters of the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, models reveal the building’s Rationalist architecture in precise twists and turns as day fades into night and the FENDI headquarters comes to life in a spectacular pulsing light show. Conceived by the Italian composer Alessandro Cortini, the film is accompanied by a 9-minute bespoke electronic composition for FENDI featuring synthesiser tracks inspired by interstellar travel and new perspectives on the monumental setting as seen from above.
