MILAN — A centenary and yet another designer exit were the main topics of conversation on the second day of Milan Fashion Week.
“I wanted to capture the quintessence of Fendi; the archives aren’t enough for that,” said Silvia Venturini Fendi, looking radiant after a triumphant show that celebrated the 100th year of the Roman fur and leather goods house. All eyes were on the designer — not least for being back in the driver’s seat on the women’s side of the business after the departure of Kim Jones. Venturini Fendi possesses that trademark Fendiness — which is more a matter of sensitivity and taste than lineage — and may be the ideal choice should the powers that be at LVMH still be looking for a women’s creative director.
The house of Fendi has a voluptuous, womanly personality and requires someone who understands that, as well as how to work with leather and fur. Venturini Fendi did it all today: the collection was a tad heavy-handed but nonetheless resplendent, and showcased her uniquely feminine way of doing the sculpted silhouettes she absorbed at Karl Lagerfeld’s side, making them plausible rather than theatrical.
Elsewhere in Milan, Jil Sander announced Lucie and Luke Meier’s exit only hours after their late morning show. Rumours of the separation had circulated widely in recent months, so the news was no surprise. Nonetheless, it struck an emotional chord with many fashion insiders. The Meiers did a terrific job in reviving the relevance of a house that had waned since its founder left for the third time in 2013, attracting the attention of Renzo Rosso’s OTB, which acquired the brand in 2021.
But in recent seasons, the Meiers moved away from Jil’s light, modernist ethos, exploring heavier and headier ground. Their last collection, which began with total black and ended with absolute white, was probably their heaviest, looking intensely decorative in a punky kind of way (see: long spiky sequins). The husband-and-wife design duo’s next steps were not announced, nor was their replacement.
OTB flagship Diesel has been heading in the right direction since designer Glenn Martens took the reins a few years ago. What he possesses is the ability to communicate a clear code without getting formulaic. And his Diesel, though obviously centred on denim and jersey, has effectively dodged the streetwear trap and keeps evolving past the Y2K revival that already feels so staid.
This season, Martens was in top form, testing higher grounds with a more elevated collection, as if he was already rehearsing for his new role at OTB stablemate Margiela, while keeping the focus on the distress treatments that are so intrinsically Diesel and the undercurrent of sex that’s his own trademark.
Although a little editing would have made the message sharper, the outing was an imaginative, slightly drunk foray into bourgeois tropes à la Coco Chanel, and classy nods to Balmoral, with costume-inclined bustiers and crinolines thrown in the mix.. What kept it together was Martens’ harsh humour, and his ability to sum things up in a metaphorical brushstroke. The set, a wild smorgasbord of graffiti made by 7,800 kids all over the world, was a blast, offering an ideal frame for the runway vision that unfolded.
Over at Marni, another of Renzo Rosso’s brands, designer Francesco Risso opted for an intimate show with guests sitting at little round tables as if they were in a bar, surrounded by tableaus painted by British-Nigerian artists Olaolu Slawn and Soldier, as well as the interdisciplinary Risso.
The Martinis set the tone for a collection that was magnificently decadent in its elongated, silky silhouettes redolent of the 1920s and 30s, superbly elegant in its pencil coats with cocoon backs, and constructivist in the superhuman roundness of perfectos and pleated skirts. The historical references were clear, but not literal, charmingly filtered through a lysergic sensibility that’s all Risso’s own. It made for an outing that was totally Marni and totally Risso at once, escapist without being silly. A sense of twisted realism — another Risso motif — was missing, but overall the outing was touching.