Friday 24 February 2012

Milan Fashion Week | Fur Avant-Garde by FENDI

 



FENDI Fall/Winter 2012/13 by Karl Lagerfeld


"More fur is flying than ever this winter". The use of leather, reptile, and all kinds of animal pelts is so embedded in fashion now that it's often hard to tell which material is which, or even to distinguish between what's real and what's fake. It's safe to say, of course, that it's all real at Fendi, Italy's premier fur house, where luxurious techniques are their most sophisticated.




















For fall, Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini Fendi treated all the materials at their disposal as an interplay of textures, colors, and angular shapes, cutting them into waisted silhouettes, with skirts patch-worked from asymmetric zones of cashmere and pleats. "Modern femininity without references", describes Lagerfeld. The peplum and the bustle are featured in a navy crocodile skirt, with a panel of accordion pleating in the derriere, and in a nipped-waist antelope suit with an upstanding feathery "tail" perking up in the back of the jacket. Other coat silhouettes were clean and straight up and down; one in matte laser-cut navy leather, another in glossy maroon, with a slice of geometric pleating in one flank. The new Fendi bags are either iPad boxes with a top-handle, or classic-seeming black-and-white crocodile totes - save for the fact that they cascades of goat hair sprouting from the sides.

Standing back, though, what's worth noticing is hust how far the idea of a "status fur" has shifted since the days of floor-length minks and sables were flaunted by Hollywood stars and old aristocracy. They're nowhere to be seen now. Attribute that to the rise of extrem fashion, sought out by a twenty-first century global generation of internationally wealthy young people who want their luxury full-on, colorful, and playful. Fendi's crazy-colored yellow goat hair and multicolored patch-work coats speak directly to them. And oddly enough, those coats resonate with the glam-rock monster-face fake-fur coats made by London's East End designers and Meadham Kirchhoff only a couple of days ago. The price-points couldn't be more wildly disparate, but weirdly, the motivation is on the same page. Wether it's made from a dyed fox or Dynel nylon, the fun fur is back.










Technology's influence on Fendi also comes courtesy of noted  digitalist Karl Lagerfeld, who was saying that there's no need to refer back to the past where the online world is awash with late-breaking info. Nevertheless, there was a curious and charming retro edge in the Fendi collection, evident in details - a puff sleeve, a fichu, a bustle - that could almost pass as folkloric where it not for the fact that they were delivered in such an incongrouos way. That bustle for instance, bunched from navy blue croc or antelope hide. Incongruity may, in fact, be even more a Fendi signature than the hybrid. It guarantees that this label's collection will always defeat expectations, in the best possible way.

































Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories

Photo Credit/Source: VOGUE
Photography by Marcio Madeira/firstVIEW


Enjoy my previous Milan Fashion Week post - 


Fall/Winter 2012/13 Collection








1 comment:

Shagun said...

Luxurious designs.Leather dresses with reptile pattern are so Rock-Chic.Fur coats are irresistible. I esp adore the colorful, printed, texturized dress with drop waist fur panel.A fascinating editorial, dear Andrea, & lovely photos!!!...Cheers,
Shagun

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