MFW: The Fendi Spring/Summer 2024 Show Is Our (New) Roman Empire

Fendi’s artistic director Kim Jones was inspired by the insouciant personal style of Italians on the street at the Colosseum in Rome

Model on the runway at the Fendi Spring 2024 Ready To Wear Fashion Show on September 20, 2023 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Giovanni Giannoni/WWD via Getty Images)

For his Spring/Summer 2024 outing at Milan Fashion Week, Kim Jones was inspired by his visits to Rome and the ease and elegance of the people who passed him on his daily walks to the Colosseum.

“When I am in Rome, every day I walk from the hotel to the Colosseum wearing my ear pods. It’s like listening to a soundtrack to an imaginary film with Fendi characters I see along the way,” says Jones.

“In Rome, there is an elegance in ease and not caring what anybody else thinks—that is real luxury. In this collection, I wanted to reflect that. It is about women who dress for themselves and their own lives… It’s not about the spectacle of being looked at but the reality of wearing and the confidence and chicness that comes with it. It’s not about being something but being someone.”

Set to the orchestral swells of Dinah Washington’s 1960 track “This Bitter Earth”, guests were seated on and amongst giant Fendi Baguette Bags which were sculpted in white plaster, and similar to ancient Roman pillars. On this runway, masculine tailoring and utility were fused with feminine sensibilities—as seen on oversized car coats, deconstructed knits, a ballet shoe with a studded sole, the folded-over curtain waistbands of tailored trousers, and, interestingly, sleeves that were fastened at the neckline and wrapped around a single arm. Powdery blues—a hue Jones doubled-down on at Fendi’s SS23 collection—was balanced against tangerines, bright pumpkins, burnt browns and acid yellows. The addition of tinted short gloves in not only an SS collection, but in eveningwear, was a standout accessory—an almost extension to the prized Peekaboo, Baguette, Origami, and the new Flip bags.

Amid rumours this could be Jones’ final show for the Italian house, we are left to question who could possibly harness the luxurious ease of movement and quality better than the man himself. Where luxury is founded in the comfort and quiet confidence that it gives the wearer to be themselves. Forget gladiators at the Colosseum, Jones’ refined woman on-the-go—the Rome Edition—is our (new) Roman Empire.