Milan Fashion Week: Fendi

Milan designers looked to the sea and the forest for inspiration for warm weather looks being previewed during Milan Fashion Week.

After a drenching opening day, the sun came out for the second day of womenswear previews for next spring and summer on Thursday, lightening moods and allowing the fashion crowd again to show off its style prowess on the streets of Milan, after a day spent dashing from cabs and cars to umbrellas.

At Fendi, Maid Marian wouldn’t have needed Robin Hood to defend her in these threads and skins.

Karl Lagerfeld’s new looks for Fendi projected both feminine strength — with braided leather mimicking bodice armour — and romanticism, with flowing chiffon skirts and smocked fronts. She is a soft warrior, who only brings out her menacing side when warranted, striding through the forest in woven leather panties and a leather top with braided neckline, or more stealthily in a silken bubble mini-dress with blousy sleeves and a smocked bodice.

Silvia Venturini Fendi said the looks belonged in a “concrete forest,” pointing to the angular sculpted trees decorating the showroom walls.

“It is childish in a way. Also the craftsmanship. The flowers, the smocking, and the braiding, the micro-stitching,” Fendi said.

The colours were that of the forest, with olive greens approaching browns, while opposing shades of reds or blues were mixed together. Models wore a strong stripe of eye shadow at the brow, a pretty war paint. Shoes were mostly sculpted high heels in leather, at times multicoloured, and also satin.

Fendi being Fendi, there were also summer furs, good for the forest, but “good also in the air conditioning,” quipped Fendi.