“The ultimate study of comfort,” is how Silvia Venturini Fendi described her AW23 men’s collection. This season, the designer celebrated the “opulence of the everyday, and the elegance of the unexpected,” rethinking classic menswear codes to give a sartorial wardrobe a contemporary twist.
Underneath giant, silver pinballs, which glided across a rollercoaster-like structure to the sounds of Italian composer and producer Giorgio Moroder, out came blankets that morphed into coats, buttery leather jackets, and asymmetric skirts draped over trousers. Flashes of lilac and indigo perforated a mainly muted palette of navy and grey, with Fendi playfully using cashmere throughout. Be it one-sleeved jumpers with a shoulder left exposed, or fringing overcoats. Some models even wore knitted helmets that looked like little bobs.
Shearling was another key cornerstone of the collection, with Fendi spraying the fabric to achieve the look of denim for a pastiche of a trucker jacket. Models also came carrying fuzzy baguettes lodged inside their baguette bags (last year, the brand celebrated the 25th anniversary of the iconic bag with a mammoth show in New York).
As the collection drew to a close, glitzy eveningwear paid tribute to the designer’s time spent under the disco ball at Studio 54. With “I Feel Love” soundtracking the finale, it was clear these pieces were built for both the day-to-day and those euphoric rushes on the dancefloor.
Photography courtesy of Fendi.
