To mark this monumental milestone, the Italian luxury fashion house is reviving not only the year 1925 when it was founded, but the entire decade when the world went through exciting changes in economy and culture.
The Roaring Twenties is a decade unlike any other. Fashion, for one, saw the rise of the flapper style defined by short straight-cut dresses, bob haircuts, and bold makeup. It was also when jazz music became widely popular and literary classics, particularly F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Virginia Wolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, were published.
The glitz and glamour of the twenties and Fendi’s stylish outlook of the future is what artistic director Kim Jones used to create a new collection that’s luxurious, glamorous, and fashion-forward.
Launched on the first day of Milan Fashion Week on Sept. 17, Fendi’s spring-summer 2025 collection pays homage to the brand’s roots in its bag and fur workshop built by then-newlyweds Edoardo and Adele Fendi. At the same time, the collection showcases the Maison’s century-long creative excellence reflected in remarkable ensembles, the cult-favorite baguette handbag, and ingenious collaboration with Karl Lagerfeld who was Fendi’s artistic director from 1965 until his death in 2019.
In an interview with The Guardian, Jones said that all these, in addition to the “modernism in dress, design, decoration, and thought” in the twenties inspired him to turn the Fendi SS2025 collection into an “amalgam of epochs, moods, and techniques — then and now.”
The show had a minimalist aesthetic, with only a massive cube-structured installation placed at the center of the vast space. Studio audience was taken back to the early years of the Roman Maison with its haunting soundtrack that featured Max Richter’s music with a voiceover from sisters Anna and Venturini Fendi. They are heard talking about their mother, Adele, and the legacy she left for the brand.
Models walked around the cube, sporting the Fendi SS25 collection that dazzled with elegance, minimalism, and quality craftsmanship, which Fendi’s owner, LVMH, has since been championing.
Silhouettes similar to the fancy ensembles of the 1920s dominated the collection. Dresses featured dropped waists, art deco-style detailing, and hemline fringing. Forties-inspired cinched-waist pencil skirts added more flair to the mix.
Among the notable pieces are see-through ensembles with intricate embroidery and precise detailing. One specific head-turner was a sheer crystal-embellished maxi dress worn over a knit bralette and tap shorts.
Other than its creative mix of glamour, history, and modernism, Jones made sure to incorporate comfort into Fendi’s spring-summer 2025 collection.
“I don’t like looking at things in a reflective or nostalgic way,” the English designer remarked, noting that his creations reflected how women dress now. His latest release has “movement, lightness, excellence, and ease. Simply the ability for a wearer to live contemporary life in a collection is key.”
This is seen in pieces like the suede croco turned into an overshired shirt, a thick velvet robe, and chiffon dresses that models showcased on the runway. Further proving how Fendi prioritizes comfort is its continued partnership with Red Wing for this collection’s shoes.
Many of the looks featured Red Wing’s industrial boots that Fendi revamped with Cuoio Romano leather and Selleria hand stitching. According to The Guardian, the boots have been featured in Fendi’s menswear collections since the 1950s.
In addition, Fendi’s iconic baguette was updated with a flexible yet equally stylish look. The bag is now larger and made out of corduroy because a roomy bag like this is “what my friends carry to work,” Jones said.
Besides the collection, the show’s guest list sparkled with appearances from Shailene Woodley, Song Hye-kyo, as well as Filipino celebrities Pia Wurtzbach and Heart Evangelista.
Rounding off the Fendi spring-summer 2025 show was a finale that left audiences in awe — the cube installation was slowly opened to reveal the entire collection. This, and the rest of the show, perfectly encapsulated the Roman Maison’s remarkable history and bold outlook for the future.
Milan Fashion Week is set to run until Sept. 23, with 56 physical shows and 8 digital ones from Italy’s top luxury fashion houses. Know more about it here.
