“Milano versus Roma: I am from Milan but there is a freedom in the Roman style that Milan does not have – there is always ‘more’. This is a coming together of two worlds and I am so touched by the opportunity that Kim Jones and, Silvia Venturini FENDI have given me to be so much myself while exploring theirs, the incomparable world of Fendi.” Stefano Pilati
This is how designer Stefano Pilati evoked his collaboration with Fendi for the Winter 2023-2024 collection from the House, in which he revisits Fendi codes, reaching beyond gender for a character-driven and iconoclastic approach. Reflecting on both the 1920s and the 2020s, the collection explores the idea of ‘the flapper’ for today.
The boyish girl ‘flapper’ of the 1920s – seen then as a symbol of female freedom – is now perceived as a symbol of freedom for both sexes. Current seismic cultural and aesthetic shifts are reflected in clothing tradition, united with subversion. The very Fendi sense of duality is manifest in men’s garments worn with feminine elements, and vice versa.
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A master of cut and construction for both men and women, Stefano Pilati breaks the rules to create a boldly contemporary fashion. Milan meets Roma in the collection, melding Milanese bourgeois chic with Roman freedom. Classics meet audacious insouciance as two worlds come together.
This collaboration between Fendi and Stefano Pilati is part of the ‘Friends of Fendi’ series of projects and collections instigated by Kim Jones and Silvia Venturini Fendi, which crosses ‘party lines’ in the fashion industry to celebrate friendship above all.
