Fendi's Spring/Summer 2024 menswear collection is workwear. Like, real workwear, inspired by the hardworking craftspeople who toil away at the new Fendi Factory in Tuscany and who joined creative director Silvia Venturini Fendi for a final bow at the end of the runway show.
It's a clever notion that ties into both Venturini Fendi's inclination for fancy and functional garments — remember Fendi's wonderful partnership with the age-old footwear manufacturers at Moonstar? — while also underscoring Fendi's Made in Italy bonafides.
Italian luxury labels take a lot of pride in continuing to manufacture their wares domestically and rightfully so. Fendi SS24 is literally an inside look at the process.
As always, Fendi's menswear is, in a word, excellent. The silhouettes are well-defined with crisp lines and a bevy of approachable clothes, flitting between timeless Italian tailoring — sleek, A-line coats and high-rise trousers — and riffs on the blue collar classics: an overall here, a par of canvas double-knee shorts there.
I don't think Fendi gets enough credit for its excellent menswear, tell you the truth.
Far from logomania, Silvia Venturini Fendi's clothing is consistently cool. It's wearable, yes, but also accented by exciting fabrications and unusual tricks.
One season, it's cheekily cropped blazers and, another, it's winking references to the overarching theme.
Because Fendi SS24 is an ode to the nearly hundred-year-old luxury label's atelier, Venturini Fendi delivers clothes fastened with measuring tape in place of belts, overcoats dotted by a tailor's chalkmarks, and monogrammed trunks printed with the tools of a craftsperson.
In a way, Fendi SS24 is itself about the making of Fendi SS24. The clothes are visual reminders of the people that made them, a reminder that this stuff bears the thumbprint of artisans.
All that being said, I have to tip my cap to two especially nifty bits from Fendi SS24: Fendi coffee mugs, complete with carrier — what better way to start your workday at the Fendi Factory? — and some impressive clogs that hearken back to those aforementioned Moonstars.
Further proof that Fendi's menswear is quietly top shelf stuff deserving of extra attention, at least to recognize the workers' efforts.
