Maria Grazia Chiuri has made a significant statement with her inaugural haute couture collection for Fendi, presented in Rome, the city of her birth and the brand's origins. Beyond the runway, Chiuri is using her new platform to challenge what she perceives as Italy's reluctance to acknowledge fashion's crucial role in culture, advocating for its rightful place within national museums.
To underscore this point, Chiuri has strategically aligned her catwalk event with two dedicated fashion exhibitions across Rome. One exhibition, a revival of Karl Lagerfeld's early designs for Fendi from 1985, is being shown at the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, the same venue as Chiuri's show. A second exhibition, located elsewhere in the city, will gather the fashion house's haute couture collections dating back to 2015, offering a comprehensive look at Fendi's recent sartorial history.
Chiuri, known for embedding social commentary in her work during her decade at Dior, where she notably championed feminist messages and local female artists, aims to use Fendi's global reach to interrogate Italy's perception of fashion. She highlighted to international reporters, including those from the UK, the absence of an Italian institution equivalent to London's Victoria and Albert Museum, Paris's Musée des Arts Décoratifs, or New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, all renowned for their high-profile fashion exhibitions.
The collection itself paid homage to Rome's enduring grandeur. Chiuri spoke of her affection for capes, linking it to the city's Vatican presence. A standout piece, an ivory caped coat with sweeping silk embroidery, evoked the eternal city's majesty while also being suitable for a modern red-carpet appearance. Other elements included layered and sheer black lace, alongside ecclesiastical sleeves with wide, contrasting satin cuffs, all contributing to a distinctively Roman sense of power dressing.
In terms of silhouette, Chiuri diverged from the cinched 'New Look' associated with her previous role at Dior. Her Fendi debut showcased free-flowing shapes that suspended from the shoulder. The designer explained her inspiration came from kimono forms and traditional clothing methods that create shape through draping around the body, rather than by compressing it. The collection also featured real fur, though Chiuri emphasised it was upcycled from existing pelts and garments within Fendi's extensive archives, addressing the brand's historical connection to the fur trade.