The True Meaning Behind Fendace: Why Versace and Fendi Traded Places In A Groundbreaking Fashion Moment
In a historical moment for fashion, two of the industry’s biggest houses came together to unveil an interpretation of each other’s respective luxury brands
On the last night of Milan Fashion Week, something that has never been done before took place in the famed Versace palazzo on Via Gesu. Donatella Versace presented a Fendi collection and Silvia Venturini Fendi and Kim Jones introduced the world their version of Versace, revealing Fendace.
The Meaning Behind Fendace
This sartorial swap, saw the designs giving each other free rein to dig into the archive of the other’s house, to come up with a wholly unique interpretation of the codes of the brand through the prism of their own artistic eye.
“It’s a first in the history of fashion: two designers having a true creative dialogue that stems from respect and friendship,” recounted Donatella Versace about the creative experiment.
Unlike the recent “contamination” collections that saw two Kering brands, Gucci and Balenciaga, riff off each other’s codes, the ongoing Moncler Genius project or the countless other brand mash-ups done in the past, this pairing was the meeting of two Italian powerhouse brands that are still very much connected to the founding families.
The result saw Kim, the artistic director at Fendi, clearly regaling himself with the Versace archive.
Sending out a collection filled with the famed Versace safety pin embellishments, its unmistakable Medusa head baroque prints, and its body-con silhouettes.
While Donatella — whose brother designer Gianni Versace was a close personal friend of Karl Lagerfeld, who designed Fendi for over 50 years — brought the Fendi double F logo and the Versace V together on slinky dresses, logomania baseball caps, and trompe l’oeil denim effect separates.
“Friends, idols, mentors…It’s the beauty of togetherness,” said Kim Jones about the switch that saw each designer presented 25 looks for the other’s house. And that idea of togetherness extended to the runway where a bevy of supermodels from the past 40 years walked the catwalk for this historic event.
From Kristen McMenamy, who opened the Versace portion of the two-part show to Namoi Campbell who closed the Fendi line up, the list of marquee models was nothing less than impressive Shalom Harlow, Karen Elson, Gigi Hadid, Amber Valletta, Kate Moss, and her daughter Lia Moss Hack, Adut Akech, Vittoria Ceretti, Emily Ratajkowski, Mariacarla Boscono, and Precious Lee all made an appearance on the blue-hued runway.
For the finale, when the supermodels and the star designers came out together for a final group bow it was clear that this collection, which will be available starting in May in both Fendi and Versace stores, was a celebration of mutual appreciation. A match made out of love and respect for what the other has brought to the world of fashion.
Images supplied.