Kim Jones

Imagine strolling through Rome on your way to work, and passing plaster Peekaboo and Baguette bags — like the ones flanking Fendi’s spring runway — in lieu of classic statuary.
It could happen in the active mind of designer Kim Jones, who gets into his Fendi headspace by walking from his hotel, past the Colosseum and into the design studio, all the while imagining what Silvia Venturini Fendi and her daughter Delfina Delettrez might be wearing.

They have always been important fonts of inspiration for Jones at Fendi, along with other stylish women in his inner circle, like Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Demi Moore and Linda Evangelista, all of whom sat on benches amongst the giant handbag sculptures as Milan Fashion Week kicked into high gear on Wednesday.

For his spring collection, Jones blended corset elements from the last Fendi couture collection, which he said sold very well, with things his favorite fashion plates might wear: neat car coats with a gentle flare, some masculine tailoring, pencil skirts, twin sets and body-skimming tube dresses.

Fendi RTW Spring 2024

Giovanni Giannoni/WWD

Jones usually also tosses in something from Karl Lagerfeld’s epic tenure at Fendi. Here it was a slipdress in a vivid yellow lacquered linen, which fit in neatly with his colorblocking story juxtaposing dusty pastels with more vivid shades.

“I just wanted everything quite graphic,” he explained, pointing to the bright knit gloves which are touchscreen friendly for Instagram addicts.

The color combinations were often appealing and sophisticated, and it was clever how Jones blended a snakeskin pattern, animal spots and an allover Fendi logo to create a new species of print for a silk tank dress.

Feats of craftsmanship included mounting shearling strips on organza, creating the illusion of a ribbed bath towel for sleek pencil skirts and loose, shirt-like jackets.

While everything looked polished and ladylike, it did not add up to a very exciting fashion show, or a compelling evolution for Fendi ready-to-wear.

The display had a melancholy mood heightened by the leisurely pace of the models, and the music that often pours out of Jones’ earbuds during his morning commute.

“I chose a song I always listened to, which is Max Richter with Dinah Washington, because it’s just a song I really love and it’s something that gets me in the mood to go to work,” he said.

The title of that contemplative track is “This Bitter Earth/On the Nature of Daylight” and includes such lines as, “What good am I? Heaven only knows.”

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Artistic director Kim Jones dedicated his autumn/winter 2023 Fendi collection to a muse: Delfina Delettrez Fendi, a fourth generation member of the family who serves as the house’s creative director for jewellry. Anders Christian Madsen shares five things to know about the collection.

The show set featured a tunnel of lights
Photo: Getty

There was something celestial about the tunnel of laser-like lights Kim Jones projected through Fendi’s mile-long runway room in Milan this season. The house’s Roman relationship between the ancient and the futuristic is an ongoing treat for Jones, a sci-fi fan who revels in analysing and interpreting this instinctive culture of the Fendi family. “Delfina is a muse for me,” he said in a preview, referring to Delfina Delettrez Fendi, who also serves as creative director of jewellery at the house. Once again, he dedicated the collection to her wardrobe. And as his models arrived through the illuminated tunnel – to the opening theme from Twin Peaks – they felt like his Roman sci-fi goddesses.
Kim Jones dedicated the collection to Delfina Delettrez Fendi
Photo: Getty
Jones described Delettrez’s look as a combination between chicness and perversity, a pairing he expressed in twisted classics – literally and figuratively – like knitwear, blazers and pleated skirts. If they had a certain sex appeal, it was amplified by plenty of strict leather pieces, from little dresses to lace-up boots and kilts. “It’s looking at little twisted things that are kind of perverse,” Jones said, gesturing at a trouser with a buckle strapped across its crotch. Asked how he practically approaches the adaptation of the heiress’s clothes, Jones said a visit to her private wardrobe is on the agenda. But so far, “She comes in with stuff, I just steal it.”
The collection drew on details from Fendi’s haute couture
Photo: Getty
Jones imbued his collection with elements from his haute couture: an everyday mac lined in not-so-everyday sequins, or shirting morphed with lace camisoles that nodded to his January show. “It’s really clear Fendi codes and that’s what it’s about. It’s capturing that elegant, chic, sophisticated Fendi woman,” he said. “I’m thinking about the future and looking at the things that work for us, which are tailoring, knitwear and dresses. It’s taking all those elements and putting them into a collection.” Sometimes he code-switched those components, like in dresses constructed in very light tailoring fabrics that contributed to an overall sartorial atmosphere throughout the collection.

Jones took inspiration from a 1996 Karl Lagerfeld dress

Photo: Getty

In May, the Metropolitan Museum in New York will unveil its Karl Lagerfeld spectacular. But while Jones is involved in proceedings, he said his approach to Fendi is becoming more and more family-focused: “The next three collections, there’s not really any Karl in them. It’s there but it’s ever-present. You have to think about the Fendi family. They are the people who really count in the end.” This time, only one archival Lagerfeld dress inspired the collection: a knitted column dress from 1996 with a single stripe down the side. “I thought it was nice to have that line,” Jones explained.
There were two new bags
Photo: Getty
The collection introduced two new bags designed by Silvia Venturini Fendi: a multipurpose bag named, well, Multi, and the handbag C’Mon. “I think what is really nice is the movement of the bag, that it can be two things in one. That duality is very Fendi, as is the idea of something which appears simple but, in reality, is very complex,” she said of the former. As for the latter: “The idea was to create pieces that were very pure in order to match the sophistication of the collection.”

Silvia Venturini Fendi, with her uniform of shirt jackets, pants and heirloom jewelry, is the picture of “functional utility alongside femininity.”

Those four words sum up how Kim Jones characterizes his exploration at Fendi, and the core of the spring collection, his youngest and sprightliest effort yet for the Roman house, full of zesty colors, sexy shapes and a keen sense of fun.

The British designer has always said the women in his inner circle are his touchstones and sounding boards at Fendi, headlined by Venturini Fendi and her daughter Defina Delettrez Fendi, also his chief creative accomplices. And the initial feedback suggests the cargo pants are a hit.

Done up in satin and with the same double-F hardware found on the Baguette bag, whose 25th anniversary Jones just marked at a blowout show in New York with Marc Jacobs as his co-conspirator, these pants are likely to be seen on many off-duty models next season. Ditto the rubber platform shoes in quirky colors like mint — and the Rolls-Royce of jeans jackets, in closely cropped shearling and irresistible in camel.

The late Karl Lagerfeld, who designed Fendi’s fur and ready-to-wear for more than 50 years, is another guiding light for Jones, who homed in on the German designer’s collections from 1996 to 2002. He reprised a floral print and a logo from those years, and its overall spirit of “minimalist ease and pop-infused eclecticism,” according to the press notes.

“We go back and we look at everything — and then I pull out the things that I think are relevant,” Jones explained backstage before the show, explaining that he added in the vivid pinks, blues and greens afterwards to spice up the house’s base palette of neutrals.

While the shapes were pared down, the materials were not. Cue tabard-simple tops and dresses made of intricately woven leather, and T-shirt dresses and tops knitted from recycled mink.

Jones also had a strong feeling for satin this season, employed for sinuous dresses, skirts and apron-like appendages, but also as the lining for nip-waisted jackets and pencil skirts so meticulously finished they can be worn inside-out.

Obi-style belts threaded through the notched waists of coats and jackets looked a bit tricky, but signaled that Jones is starting to introduce elements from Fendi’s couture runway.

The designer also reached back to 1994 and brought back a leather version of a paper Fendi shopping bag, adding a chunky chain to give it a 2023 touch.

Most of the other bags were small, including a more rigid, architectural version of the Peekaboo and a minuscule version of the Fendi First, Jones’ first “It” bag, slung on a necklace and able to hold perhaps a few Tic Tacs.

PARIS — Shrugging off the impact of political turmoil and the coronavirus pandemic on Hong Kong tourism, Dior has opened a new boutique on Canton Road in the city’s bustling Tsim Sha Tsui district.The 9,500-square-foot flagship, featuring a facade illuminated with a deconstructed version of the French fashion house’s signature “cannage” motif, is spread over two floors carrying women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, fine jewelry, watches, home wares and perfumes.
The interior takes its cue from the brand’s headquarters at 30 Avenue Montaigne in Paris, with an interior in shades of powdery white, gray and gold featuring accents such as Versailles parquet floors and its trademark Toile de Jouy fabric.

At the main entrance, visitors are welcomed by a giant crystal chandelier, and the store features original works by artists including China’s Lu Song, Wang Yuyang and Hong Hao. A spiral staircase at the rear of the store leads to dedicated areas for fine jewelry and home wares.

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The fine jewelry department in Dior’s flagship on Canton Road in Hong Kong.

Marcel Lam/Courtesy of Dior

To mark the opening, Dior is offering exclusive products including box sets containing four embroidered miniature Lady Dior bags; Rose des Vents jewelry creations adorned with colorful gemstones, and selected items from the fall women’s collection designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri, featuring embroidered motifs.
The store, which opened Monday, is also offering early access to the fall men’s collection by Kim Jones, as part of its pre-launch in the Asia-Pacific region.
The absence of tourism continues to weigh on Hong Kong’s retail market, according to a recent report by global real estate consultancy Knight Frank. Burberry confirmed last month it had closed its flagship on Canton Road, one of the world’s most expensive shopping streets.
“In the near term, the outlook for Hong Kong’s retail market remains highly difficult, so retail rents are expected to face further pressure. Uncertainty in the economy, interest rate hikes and delays in the border reopening could weigh on consumption sentiment,” Knight Frank said in a report last week.
On the upside, the local government is set to hand out a second round of consumption vouchers, worth 5,000 Hong Kong dollars, or $637 at current exchange, in August, which should underpin retail sales and restaurant receipts in the short term.

The VIP men’s department in Dior’s new flagship on Canton Road in Hong Kong.

Marcel Lam/Courtesy of Dior

“I wanted lightness in the clothes this season,” Fendi’s artistic director Kim Jones says of his fresh approach to the brand’s autumn/winter 2022 haute couture collection. Below, Anders Christian Madsen shares his key takeaways from the show.

Kim Jones debuted a lighter take on haute couture
Photo: Gorunway.com

There was a lightness to the savoir-faire Kim Jones presented for Fendi on Thursday afternoon in Palais Brongniart, which uplifted his take on haute couture with a new freshness. As the show progressed, he quite literally peeled off the layers until the lightness reached a point of near-nudity, with buoyant embroidered overlays floating ethereally over the models’ skin. “It’s pretty light,” he concurred during a preview. “I wanted lightness in the clothes this season, also in terms of how the embroideries were done.” If Jones’s first forays into couture at Fendi were about showcasing his discoveries of the magic made possible by the artisans of this haute institution through multi-layered craftsmanship, this season represented a clean slate, and one that felt like a way of using haute couture as a proposal for ideas that could trickle into real life.

It featured Kata Yuzen motifs from Japan
Photo: Gorunway.com

It all began with a trip to Japan in March, before the borders opened. “I managed to get in. I was so determined,” Jones said, hinting at some next-level string-pulling. “I used to go six times a year. I love it so much. We went to see a number of the suppliers we’ve always worked with on special projects, and I bought all these fragments of 17th-century kimonos. Just pieces of hand-painted silk fabric.” His finds prompted him to contact a family of traditional Kata Yuzen fabric-makers in Kyoto, whom he knew from previous collaborations. “They hadn’t really been working very much because there were no ceremonies in two years. I asked if they would like to do something with us.” The results were a series of beautiful fragment patterns in pastel colors, which Jones worked into column dresses that cut a monastic silhouette for the collection that felt decidedly Fendi.
It was a real-life approach to couture
Photo: Gorunway.com

“With me, when I’m looking at stuff, I’m always thinking past, present, future. The past is the research, the present is now, and the future is the idea of where it’s going to go,” Jones said, referring to the optical white box that framed the show and added the sense of futurism to proceedings, which was also present in his previous haute couture show. It had a simplifying effect on a collection that felt like a real consideration for how haute couture might be used in everyday life – by the lucky few – and, more importantly, how it might serve to push and inspire ideas for ready-to-wear. Take for instance the scalloped embroideries that adorned a two-piece set, which was, essentially, a T-shirt and a slouchy trouser. Along with the Kata Yuzen, these motifs and techniques felt ripe for ready-to-wear adaptation.
Jones gave us daywear couture
Photo: Gorunway.com

Jones also made pragmatic proposals for daywear couture. The two exquisitely-cut tailored looks that opened the show were created from the finest vicuna, a tactility Jones went on to interpret in the knitted dresses that followed. “Loro Piana always send me a piece of vicuna for Christmas. I always make myself a nice tailored coat out of it,” he quipped, but those desires are entirely universal. Of the knitwear, Jones said it was all about creating a super-luxe lightness for real-life (the extravagant kind, in any case). “I wanted to have some light knitwear pieces for, you know, that jet-set lifestyle of the client. They can wear that on the plane and get off and still [feel] fabulous.” Seeing Jones tackle the idea of real-life daywear in his haute couture was great and created a real affinity with his ready-to-wear collections.
Jones has the same birth chart as Karl Lagerfeld
Photo: Gorunway.com

Asked by Suzy Menkes if he’s the new Karl Lagerfeld – what with his multi-faceted work schedule and all – Jones laughed. “I don’t think I’m the new Karl, but I have exactly the same birth chart. I like to work hard.” In the case of this collection, his hard work was in the detail: a subtle, muted and pared-back illustration of the painstaking art form that is haute couture. “Fendi is about a working woman. A woman that’s powerful,” he said, reflecting on the role of the collection in the real world. “I love the colors. I’m really happy with it.”

Originally published in Vogue.co.uk 
Read next: How Louis Vuitton, Dior And Fendi Are Selling On Their Leftover Fabrics

DISCO FENDI: Fendi’s spring collection spiked with artworks by Antonio Lopez is landing in Miami with a series of activations aimed at celebrating the disco-era inspired lineup.
Reprising its successful Fendi Caffè format that debuted in Miami’s bustling Design District last summer, the Roman house is mounting its latest iteration inside the OTL restaurant with zingy sunset-inspired graphics taken from Lopez’s fashion drawings. Colorful rainbows and illustrations of the so-called “Lopez girls” were turned into billboards adorning the facade and interiors of the café and the neighboring Fendi store.
A 1970s, pop-tinged vibe runs through the space, with rainbow-bearing tables and baby pink armchairs, as well as custom Fendi table settings and takeaway sets. Blending local cuisine with signature Italian flavors, the café will be open at breakfast and lunchtime through May 1 serving FF-logoed cappuccino, toast and paninis, as well as pastries wrapped in Fendi packaging.

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The table setting at the Fendi Caffè in Miami’s Design District.
Courtesy of Fendi

Over the weekend, the Italian luxury brand also opened a pop-up store at Miami’s Aventura Mall. In sync with the overarching theme, the 576-square-foot space features billboards bearing Lopez’s illustrations covering the metal structure on the facade. Inside the store, splashes of red, orange and yellow, as well as an all-pink fitting room, liven up the otherwise neutral-hued space. Offering ready-to-wear as well as accessories, the pop-up runs through April 20.
For spring, artistic director of haute couture, rtw and fur collections for women Kim Jones zeroed in on Lopez’s body of work, which Karl Lagerfeld also long admired. Fendi collaborated with The Estate and Archive of Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos for the collection, which allowed Jones to deep dive into the archives and pluck his motifs, which he blew up on jersey dance dresses, drifting caftans and as leather intarsias on handbags and shearling capes.
SEE ALSO:
Kim Jones, Nikolai von Bismarck Conjure Bloomsbury With New Fendi Book
Fendi to Open First Casa Store in Milan
Fendi RTW Spring 2022

The Fendi x Skims capsule collection is happening.
After images of the collaboration were leaked on Instagram earlier this month, as reported, a confirmation came Monday on the social media platform via a post by Kim Kardashian West showcasing key styles of the tie-up sported by the mogul herself.
Artistic director of haute couture, ready-to-wear and fur collections for women at Fendi, Kim Jones, and Kardashian West joined forces for a full rtw offering spanning everything from shapewear and lingerie to swimwear and outerwear.

It includes a range of sensual, body enhancing pieces such as form-fitting tops and tank dresses, see-through bras and stockings, as well as one-piece swimsuits and puffer jackets. Most of the pieces are embossed with both companies’ logos and come in solids including black, military green, black and fuchsia, as well as a gradient of flesh tones.

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The collection drops on Nov. 9 at 6 a.m. PST on a dedicated e-commerce site, Fendiskims.com.
Campaign images shot by Steven Meisel are fronted by Kardashian West, alongside models Precious Lee, Tianna St. Louis, Jessie Li and Grace Valentine.
Rumors of a potential Fendi and Skims collaboration surfaced online earlier this year when Kardashian West visited the company’s headquarters at the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana in Rome, leaving fans and tabloids speculating about a potential tie-in.
They were further reinforced in mid-October after Instagram account @connie_personal_shopping, a personal shopper based in the U.K., posted a range of pictures from the collection to her Stories, which were then removed.
The tie-in reflects Jones’ penchant for collaborations.
The British designer masterminded the collab between Louis Vuitton and Supreme and catapulted streetwear onto the global luxury radar. He has also made collaborations an integral part of his tenure at Dior Men, teaming up with artists such as Kaws, Daniel Arsham and Peter Doig, before conscripting rapper Travis Scott for the spring 2022 collection last June.
Since taking over the creative lead at Fendi, Jones has been a refreshing force for the image of the luxury house. For instance, during the most recent Milan Fashion Week Fendi’s Jones and Donatella Versace orchestrated a creative swap for pre-fall 2022 called “Fendace,” presented with a star-studded show.
In the pre-Jones era, Fendi partnered with Nicki Minaj on a capsule collection in 2019, which encompassed rtw, footwear, accessories and bags.
Kardashian West launched the shape-enhancing undergarment company in fall 2019, and has since expanded its reach by venturing into retail with a pop-up in Los Angeles and debuting at 25 doors and online at Nordstrom, as well as at Selfridges in the U.K.
Earlier this year, the mogul told WWD that she’s planning the launch of a men’s line and that more retail is in the pipeline, given the robust success the brand experienced during the pandemic.
SEE ALSO:
Are Fendi and Skims Plotting a Collaboration?
Donatella Versace, Kim Jones on Why Swapping Brands Is Brave
Kim Kardashian West Talks Skims Pandemic Success, Men’s Line Retail

Fendi is making a major statement on the return of New York City.
The Rome-based luxury brand on Wednesday unveiled a gleaming 6,900-square-foot flagship on the corner of 57th Street and Madison Avenue. The two-level space in the historic Art Deco-era Fuller Building most recently housed a Coach store and replaces the brand’s former 4,100-square-foot store directly across the street.
The opening of the boutique, which was designed by Fendi’s in-house design team in collaboration with artistic directors Kim Jones and Silvia Venturini Fendi, also served as the global introduction of Jones’ debut women’s ready-to-wear collection and offered the first in-person peek at his inaugural couture designs, which were unveiled just last week during Paris Fashion Week. The New York store had the exclusive on both collections for its opening day on Wednesday, and they will be offered to the rest of the world today. The men’s collection, designed by Venturini Fendi, launches in select stores today and all doors by July 29.

Jones said of the flagship, “The changing rooms give the sense of a personal experience that I love, as well as the open clean design of the space to showcase the collections to their best.”
Serge Brunschwig, Fendi’s chairman and chief executive officer, said the simultaneous launch of the collections and the unit’s opening is intended to represent a “great symbol and a signal of optimism: a new collection, new designer and new store. We hope it will be auspicious for us and for New York. A new chapter of Fendi history starts today.”

Brunschwig was unable to attend the opening because of continued travel restrictions, but Jones did visit the boutique on Tuesday as “a representative of the brand” and to see the collection on the sales floor for the first time, he said. “You get it first, and you get Kim to present it.”
All told, Fendi has 40 points of sale in the U.S., Brunschwig said, and while he declined to reveal what percentage of the brand’s overall business the U.S. represents, he said it is “a very important market. It’s the biggest country in the world for the luxury industry.”
The relationship between the U.S. and the Fendi brand dates back decades when the Fendi sisters opened a boutique in Bergdorf Goodman in 1975, creating what he calls “a very special link with America which hasn’t disappeared.” Since then, he said, “we’ve found ways to build the brand.”
While the pandemic did impact Fendi’s sales in the U.S., the situation is brightening. Brunschwig said the company is seeing a “revival of luxury spending” in regions such as the Southeast and West Coast. And New York is also starting to rebound, and he’s expecting the new store to jumpstart the business.
“New York is having another rebirth,” the CEO said, “as it has so many times. Never write off New York. It will be stronger than ever.”
As business returns, Fendi will be prepared to showcase the best of what it has to offer in the store. In addition to the women’s and men’s rtw, the store offers leather goods, accessories, jewelry and shoes. The store also marks the debut of the Fendi First bag, a selection of jewelry and earrings including the buzzworthy O’lock, and a new Fendi First shoe with an invisible heel. Large and small marble sculptures of the Fendi First bag are exhibited around the store, signed on the bottom by Jones and Venturini Fendi.

As a symbol of the building’s heritage from 1929, the facade maintains its original aesthetic. Six see-through LED curtains hang vertically for three floors showcasing images of Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, Fendi’s headquarters in Rome. The windows are inspired by Fendi signature logos modernized by reworking parchment leather from  archive trunks, along with Selleria stitching, gold metal accents and the silhouette of the brand’s classic bestselling Peekaboo bag.
One highlight of the store is a jaw-dropping sphere suspended from the center of the second floor with a modular ceiling and illuminated by round lamps. The sphere is visible from the street and accessible to customers through a floating mirrored walkway. Once inside the dome, two marble sculptures of the Fendi First bag are on display, alongside the real-life purses.
The interior is open and airy with industrial cement columns and beams accented with marble, brass and steel, and plush carpets. The Arabescato Vagli marble was chosen to be reminiscent of the architecture of Roman churches.
The first floor features small leather goods and accessories and a women’s shoe boutique complete with concrete benches with leather cushions and gold accents.
A marble staircase leads to the women’s rtw department on the second floor. The open space area in a soft palette of ivory and natural tones accentuated by gold is complemented by Italian-designed furniture. Tucked in behind sliding three-dimensional brass doors is a VIP room with curved ivory mohair walls and pink carpeting.
On this level is a special lounge with glass walls that can be closed off behind ivory curtains decorated with an archive version of the FF logo designed by Karl Lagerfeld. The lounge can be used to host special private client or customer events.
Adjacent to the lounge is the men’s area, which has a different aesthetic with its leather sofas and wooden accents.
Throughout the store, the fitting rooms are showstoppers with fur benches, different colored marble walls and metal ceilings.
In order to introduce the store to New York, Fendi is launching an advertising campaign shot by Craig McDean that Brunschwig said will be used in print and outdoor marketing, the latter of which will launch in September in New York, Los Angeles and Miami.

On July 21, Fendi will also create a 360-degree virtual store tour of the flagship on its website so customers can shop the boutique from anywhere in the world. Visitors will be able to virtually experience exclusive services and spaces such as VIP rooms, create wish lists, and live chat with associates.
In addition to the flagship, Brunschwig said a new rtw shop is opening at Saks Fifth Avenue to showcase the collection.
Brunschwig is confident that Fendi will reap the benefits of these updated retail locations and he has “extremely high expectations” that customers will respond positively to Jones’ new designs. “He really worked on a new silhouette and some new icons that are based on our history and work super well together,” he said. “And when you enter the store, you really feel the collection.”
Fendi was established by Adele and Edoardo Fendi in Rome in 1925 and was designed by the late Karl Lagerfeld for 54 years until his death in early 2019. In 2000, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton became the majority shareholder in the company and in September 2020, Jones was named artistic director of couture and women’s wear, while Venturini Fendi continues as artistic director of accessories, men’s wear and children’s.

Courtesy of Fendi
Set to a hauntingly evocative choir-infused orchestral score, Kim Jones presented his second haute couture offering for Fendi via a 12-ish-minute film inspired by Pier Paolo Pasolini and directed by Luca Guadagnino. The set, a dreamy labyrinth-like other world of Roman modernist architecture proved the perfect backdrop to Jones’s triumph of artisanal craftsmanship. While his debut traced his transition from England to Rome, the FW21 offering sees him settle in the Eternal City.
Courtesy of Fendi
“Pasolini observed Rome become modern – and that is what is happening to me: connecting eras, the old with the new, the past with the present,” reads Kim Jones’s show notes. “Rome is a fascinating city because it has so many pasts – and I was drawn to Pasolini because I have always been inspired by his vision of the world.”
Courtesy of Fendi
Captured through Pasolini’s perspective on reality, an opening look of a tonal white leather coat with python application emerges through a curved opening, shortly followed by a men’s suit with Greek garland motif intarsia. The same motif features on a strapless dress, accessorized with a cuff in brass Crema Marfill marble inspired by the drapery and togas of Ancient Roman statues. Delfina Delettrez’s jewelry throughout was a fitting addition to a collection that merged the past and present: beautiful Amphora-inspired earrings were cut with the Fendi logo and worn asymmetrically.
Courtesy of Fendi
Tulle ruffles, draping, gold macramé, intricate embroidery, ostrich feather applied silks, organza embellished with mother-of-pearl flowers, crystal beading – Jones’ certainly delivered couture techniques and materials, and did it with flair. Standout looks included a floor-length multicolored gown constructed of tiny silk organza handmade fringed stripes; a cut-out intarsia design coat made of leather, suede, and shaved mink all layered and singularly attached for a total construction time of 2,400 hours; and a strapless dress with drape back in Dégradé embroidery from pink to black, paired with black opera gloves – simply iconic.
Courtesy of Fendi
The cast was equally prominent, including Kate Moss in an organza mink petal coat with 27,000 elements layered to create a flower explosion, and Amber Valetta, in a printed cape dress in silk Mikado and crinoline. After all, this was clearly a celebratory collection – of icons, Rome, heritage, modern design, and thoroughly complex craftsmanship.
Read Next: The Best Modest Looks Seen at Couture Week Fall/Winter 21-22

PARIS – Guests arriving at the Dior showroom this season had to make their way through a gaggle of kids thronging the pavement: fans of Travis Scott, who was in the building to put the finishing touches on the spring 2022 collection he designed with Dior’s artistic director for men’s wear Kim Jones.
It was just the latest in the multi-hyphenate’s winning streak of collaborations with companies as diverse as Nike, Dover Street Market, McDonald’s, Playstation, Epic Games and Byredo. For Dior, the partnership marks the first time it has created a full collection with a musician.
The line was unveiled today in Paris with a physical runway show on a set that summed up the spirit of the collaboration: a desert-like backdrop covered in oversized blooms inspired by founder Christian Dior’s garden, and cacti symbolizing the musician’s home state of Texas and his creative collective Cactus Jack.

Scott said the mood was influenced by working on the highly awaited sequel to “Astroworld,” his bestselling album from 2018. “I’m in this new album mode where it’s like psychedelic rock,” Scott told WWD. “So even just like the field of cactuses and mushrooms, you might get tripped out.”
Scott and Jones have known each other for a while, and grew closer last year, when the rapper became the unofficial face of the Air Dior capsule collection that the French fashion house developed with Jordan Brand.

“It’s just an amazing relationship, just connecting. He always knows what he wants to do, and I’m kind of like the same way,” Scott said. The two spent six months working on the collection, which includes a new take on the Dior Oblique logo that spells out the word “Jack,” as well as a Western-style double Saddle bag with a stirrup handle.
Scott said he was particularly into the tailoring, having worn a Dior suit to the 2019 Met Gala and other events – and he was impressed with the house’s speed of execution.
“Way quicker than what I thought. You know, any experience when I was younger, trying to get, like, a pair of pants took me a f—ing month. You come to a house and it’s just like, ‘Yep, tomorrow.’ It’s like, ‘Whoa!’” he said with a laugh.
“We tried all different types of silhouettes, taking it somewhere that I usually don’t even go with my own clothing,” he continued, referring to a silhouette of a narrow jacket with flared pants. “We produce more street style things, so to come into a house that does more couture-level, and kind of mesh, it was kind of cool.”
Still, there are plenty of casual options in the lineup, with motifs ranging from Cactus Jack’s signature hand-drawn graphics to python prints.
“I just tried to take some of the textures of what you might see in my backyard on an everyday basis,” Scott explained. “I wanted to make something that felt like you can wear it on the street every day, but it still has some type of way that you can wear it in and out of a major building, or to the bodega – so we just took that journey.”

Travis Scott. 
Courtesy of Dior

Scott said his high-low approach comes naturally. “High-end, and even couture, has always even been in my metaverse of things I like. And I don’t think there’s even a difference going from McDonald’s to Dior. It’s just the things that I like in my natural state,” said the singer, rocking a cactus-shaped pendant studded with diamonds.

“Way too many – enough to blind it out. Probably to count, we’d be here all day,” he said of the necklace, the first custom piece for men designed by Victoire de Castellane, Dior’s creative director of fine jewelry. For the record, it features 2,219 diamonds – in addition to six emeralds and 34 pearls.
Scott has appeared in campaigns including Saint Laurent’s spring 2019 ads, and this week featured in the second issue of Bottega Veneta’s quarterly digital journal. Earlier this year, he launched his Cacti seltzer brand.
He’s also been lauded for his innovative music marketing strategies, such as bundling concert tickets, merchandise and a new album, and staging a virtual concert within Epic’s wildly successful “Fortnite” game. Jones said the performer has a unique ability to speak to young consumers.
“I see things that Travis does, that other people don’t do, that interest me. He’s a leader, not a follower, and I think that’s always really important. You cross different sections of society. The fact that he can do Dior and McDonald’s is testament to him – no one else could,” he said.
As part of the collaboration, Dior will auction off four white shirts hand-painted by artist George Condo to benefit the fashion program created in partnership between Scott’s Cactus Jack Foundation and The New School’s Parsons School of Design.
“That was one of the things that really got me into wanting to do this with Travis, because he understands, like I do, that we need young people to go through the system to be trained to fulfill their dreams,” Jones said.
Scott was among the honorees this month at the annual Parsons Benefit, attending with his on-again, off-again partner Kylie Jenner and their daughter, Stormi. He noted there is a philanthropic element to most of his business ventures.
“I always try to figure out any moment where we can use whatever comes from this to literally try to give back to people that really need this stuff. I launched this foundation with Parsons to help kids in Houston to attend that school,” he said, noting there is a strong pool of talent in Texas.
“There’s way more creatives there. If they had the opportunity to experience these programs, get out their creative ideas, have a viewing for it, it would be amazing. So trying to take this money and fuel these people to bring them more to light, that’s like the super drive behind this whole thing,” he explained.

Up next is his “Astroworld” festival, due to take place in Houston on Nov. 5 and 6.
“We’re back on the streets. I think that’s just one of the craziest things. This is gonna be super dope,” he promised. “I’m really putting a lot into the stage this year. I’m putting a lot into the surrounding, so you’re going to see a lot of different things, a lot of new experiences at this festival.”
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