SHIFTING SCHEDULES: The last day of the upcoming Paris Couture Week just lightened up: WWD has learned that Fendi will sit out this season.
“As part of a rescheduling of its shows, Fendi will not be present this year for haute couture in Paris,” the Roman house said in a statement, without elaborating.
It is understood the decision was made in alignment with Kim Jones, Fendi’s artistic director of couture and womenswear collections, as well as Silvia Venturini Fendi, artistic director of accessories and menswear collections, and her daughter Delfina Delettrez Fendi, jewelry creative director, who are also involved in couture collections.
For spring 2024 couture, the trio had explored futurism via streamlined dresses, silvery bags and out-of-this-world eyewear.
Couture’s dates were moved to June 24 to 27 in order to avoid a clash with preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
But Fendi’s decision to sit out the season is due mainly to an internal review of its show and event schedule, and the brand is to maintain its couture activities, sources told WWD.
The company, part of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, is gearing up to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2025 with a slate of events.
To wit: Earlier this week, Fendi unveiled a high-end fragrance collection consisting of seven scents that pay tribute to the company’s history and key members of the Fendi extended family.
Each fragrance was inspired by a personality, including the house’s matriarch Adele Casagrande Fendi, who kickstarted the business in 1925 by opening a fur and leather goods workshop in Rome with husband Edoardo Fendi, as reported.
Few changes have been made in the general configuration of Paris Couture Week, barring the return of Thom Browne, for the New York designer’s second couture show in Paris at 5 p.m. on June 24, and Charles de Vilmorin, slotted at 3:30 p.m. on June 25.
Fendi was the biggest name anchoring the June 27 lineup on the provisional calendar. Other shows listed that day include Aelis, Ashi Studio, Robert Wun, Gaurav Gupta, Peet Dullaert and Ardazaei.
