January 12, 2024 |
Pokémon! Gotta catch em’ all! Especially if they’re fashioned by Fendi…
For its next Friends of Fendi link-up, the Italian house has tapped the “godfather of Ura-Harajuku fashion” Hiroshi Fujiwara, who playfully fuses his own brand, Fragment, and the popular Japanese animé franchise with signature Fendi silhouettes. The result is a cutesy collection of men’s and womenswear, as well as accessories. “I first met Hiroshi Fujiwara in London in 1999 – and what can I say? He’s one of my idols and I love him,” says Kim Jones, artistic director of couture and womenswear. “He’s an instigator of the Japanese club scene, it’s youth fashion scene and it’s streetwear scene. I have been in love with Japan for a long time; its influence on me and what I do is huge – Hiroshi is a major part of that.”
Paying homage to the Chinese Zodiac Year of the Dragon, Pokémon characters Dragonite, Dragonair and Dratini flutter across staple handbags, rucksacks, totes, wallets and a bum bag, delicately adorning the mystical range which launched last week. “[Fujiwara has] taken our handbags and made them into mini pop monuments,” says Silvia Venturini Fendi, artistic director of accessories and menswear. Throughout, Fujiwara’s FRGMT signature is reinterpreted on Fendi’s iconic FF jacquard logo.
There are an ample number of signature bags on offer; the Peekaboo ISeeU for one, as well as the hobo, the pouch and the baguette of course, amongst others. Taking centre stage is an intricately beaded baguette, upon which the adorable Pokémon dragons dance in tandem.
But it’s not just bags; also included are a spattering of ready-to-wear garments spanning T-shirts, bucket hats, caps, jumpers, bracelets and pyjama-esc twinsets.
Obsessive gamer? (hobbyists welcome), Fendi has got the goods for you, too. Also partnering with Pokémon GO – the mobile game sensation from Niantic where players can discover Pokémon as they explore the world around them – ‘Trainers’ (players) can obtain digital avatar items featuring designs from the Fendi x FRGMT x Pokémon collection.
Debuting off the back 10 Magazine cover star Stefano Pilati’s inaugural Friends of Fendi collection, the Fendi x FRGMT x Pokémon collection is now available in selected Fendi boutiques worldwide and on Fendi.com, as well as Selfridges, which is staging a themed pop-up next to Fendi’s ground-floor accessories concession until January 28. Pokémon! Gotta cop it all! Shop here.
Photography courtesy of Fendi.
