Fendi Men's FW24 Is Fit for Town and Country
“I worked on the classics, but I gave them a modern identity,” Silvia Venturini Fendi told Hypebeast backstage at the House’s runway show.
Fendi’s Fall/Winter 2024 menswear collection is two-fold: on the one hand, traditional masculine silhouettes draw from the “noble pursuits” of the great outdoors; and on the other, a metropolitan “swagger” challenges their status quo. “I worked on the classics, but I gave them a modern identity,” designer Silvia Venturini Fendi told Hypebeast of the collection, backstage at the legacy Italian fashion house’s show on Saturday. “I call it town and country.”
In a long Milanese hall, the imprint’s runway was carved by rows of seats that were shaped in the letter “F.” The show opened with a look that blended Venturini Fendi’s polar inspirations: an oversized brown leather coat held a burgundy sweater and gold button-down in place, while a pleated, forest green short-skirt had a fluid cadence in its step. The brand’s fame-filled front-row — composed of Kit Harrington, Massimiliano Caiazzo, Aaron Piper, Ed Mcvey, Jeremy Pope, James Franco, Lee Min Ho and Winston Duke, among others — appeared pleased.
“The shorts really look like skirts, and they bring a new attitude to everything,” Venturini Fendi explained. The feminine shape became the collection’s unexpected mainstay, appearing later in thick wool and slim cotton, like those found in business slacks. For Fendi, one of the largest and most historic brands in the business, to put such an assortment of skirts (many of them skorts and kilts, too) down its menswear runway, we must have finally reached the peak of the once-controversial trend. The concept of a man in a skirt is becoming normal — on the runway, at least.
Venturini Fendi calls the collection’s outerwear designs “generous,” for their raglan shoulders, flat leather tab buttons and Selleria collars. Fishmerman’s coats and waterproof wax jackets adopted the famous “FF” canvas, while code-celebrating bombers and peacoats were engineered with trompe l’oeil shearling piping and seams. Denim and mohair materials, meanwhile, were shredded and knit to form fringed “furs,” across the lineup.
Aside from the skirts, skorts and kilts, Fendi’s bottom offerings included a kaleidoscopic selection of roomy trousers. Corduroy iterations beamed in true blue, olive and mustard, while staple dress pants shuffled through in green, burgundy and grey. “The slouchy pants have two large pleats on their side,” added Venturini Fendi. “It’s a silhouette that is completely different.” The change is subtle, but its a testament to the designer’s ability to twist fashion laws with something noticeably current.
Models paraded Fendi’s latest accessories on their arms, welcoming the new Siesta bag, which flattens like a pillow in striped quilting or shearling, and the Melon Hobo, which adopts chrome FF hardware. Meanwhile, the Peekaboo ISeeU Soft returned, along with the padded Baguette Soft Trunk; and on foot, Fendi offered platform deck shoes and grain leather Wellington boots.
The Fendi man, in 2024, is “excellent at mixing pieces and proposing them in new ways,” Venturini Fendi said. There’s a certain progressiveness about the label’s new-age poster child that can’t be ignored: he’s still a fan of classic suiting, rugged jackets and straight trousers, but he also frequently favors small handbags. And he’s unafraid to step outside in a skirt, or something that looks like one. Here, Venturini Fendi effectively explores the vastness and complexity of what manhood can mean today. In doing so, she opens Fendi’s doors to a wider audience — from the town, to the country, and beyond.
See Fendi’s Fall/Winter 2024 menswear collection in the gallery above, and stay tuned to Hypebeast for more Milan Fashion Week coverage.
