MILAN — The latest “Friends of Fendi” project is a playful one that sees the Rome-based brand collaborating with Hiroshi Fujiwara’s Fragment and also includes a special collection with Pokémon celebrating the Year of the Dragon in 2024.
The Fendi x Frgmt x Pokémon collection will spotlight a dragon-type Pokémon paying tribute to the Chinese zodiac sign and be available in select Fendi boutiques worldwide and on fendi.com starting from Jan. 4.
“I first met Hiroshi Fujiwara in London in 1999 — and what can I say? He’s one of my idols and I love him,” said Kim Jones, Fendi’s artistic director of couture and womenswear. “He’s an instigator of the Japanese club scene, its youth fashion scene and its streetwear scene. I have been in love with Japan for a long time; its influence on me and what I do is huge — Hiroshi is a major part of that.”
The “FF Fragment” reinterprets Fujiwara’s Frgmt signature on Fendi’s signature FF jacquard logo in its institutional brown and tobacco shade and in an unexpected bold yellow version.
Disrupted “FF Fragment” is applied on the Peekaboo ISeeU Small and Baguette women’s bag, as well as mini icons Baguette Pouch and Mini Mon Trésor, together with a new foldable Baguette shopper and soft hobo bag.
“Our bag shapes are a logo themselves; they are so representative of the house. While our workmanship is another important part of our iconography,” said Silvia Venturini Fendi, artistic director of accessories and menswear at Fendi. “At the same time, we never want to be too precious with either — we enjoy celebrating both in new ways. It’s a living history that Hiroshi Fujiwara adds to with both Frgmt and Pokémon; he’s taken our handbags and made them into mini pop monuments.”
A men’s large messenger and a belt bag show the Frgmt disruption with yellow contrasting zips.
A unisex white T-shirt with a Fendi x Frgmt logo completes the offer.
“When Kim asks me to work on a project together, I have no reason to say no,” Fujiwara said. “I very much enjoyed working with Kim again, and this time also with Silvia. It was a true honor to work with the house of Fendi, a traditional brand with outstanding craftsmanship. Grateful for this opportunity.”
Fujiwara worked with Jones in 2017 when the latter was men’s artistic director at Louis Vuitton, in a collaboration that was part of the French brand’s pre-fall men’s collection.
Fujiwara has also collaborated over the years with brands ranging from Moncler Genius and Loro Piana to Louis Vuitton and Maserati. A leader in the streetwear culture scene in the ’80s in Japan, he also works as a producer, musician and visual artist and was one of the first DJs in Japan to play hip-hop.
With Fendi, a playful evolution includes inlays and prints on FF jacquard and FF canvas backings — also on a shopper bag and a men’s camera case — or a leather 3D marquetry embodiment of Dragonite (a draconic, bipedal reptilian Pokémon with light orange skin) on the Baguette, and the Dratini (a reptilian Pokémon with a blue serpentine body and a white underside) on the mini Baguette bags, also available in nano sizes.
Reflecting Fendi’s craftsmanship, a special Baguette is realized with an intricate micro beads FF embroidery with the three Pokémon and fringes, while a Peekaboo ISeeU Medium in shiny white croco is enriched with Dratini details on the metal handle and chain strap.
Mini icons such as the Baguette Pouch, Mini By the Way and Mini Mon Trésor, and small leather goods further animate the offering along with Dragonite key charms and textile accessories. From earrings to rings, a selection of galvanized brass jewelry combines the FF logo with Pokémon’s signatures, including Dratini and Dragonair and the famous Poké Ball, which opens on a soft chain bracelet and necklace.
The lineup includes T-shirts, hoodies and silk FF pajamas with Dragonite designs.
The collaboration with Pokémon includes Dragonite created by Fendi’s leather artisans as a collector’s item available in a limited series, branded with its own silk FF foulard, requiring more than 30 hours of manual workmanship.
Dedicated pop-ups will be unveiled on Jan. 4 in China’s Cheng-du Taikoo Li, running until Jan. 27; at Isetan in Tokyo, until Jan. 9, and at Selfridges in London until Jan. 28.
In addition, Fragment and Pokémon have partnered with Niantic’s mobile game Pokémon Go, where players can discover Pokémon as they explore the world around them. Starting on Jan. 4, Pokémon Go Trainers can obtain digital avatar items featuring designs from the Fendi x Frgmt x Pokémon collection.
Other “Friends of Fendi” collaborations include the latest, with Stefano Pilati, as reported, backed by in-store events and a dedicated campaign; with Marc Jacobs last year and Kim Kardashian and Skims in 2021. For pre-fall 2022, Jones and Donatella Versace orchestrated a creative swap called “Fendace,” presented with a star-studded show in Milan.
