At Fendi, a Couture Collection Inspired by High Jewelry

Draping and Grecian goddess dressing is back with a vengeance—that is, if the haute couture collections have anything to say about the matter. At Fendi’s fall 2023 couture show on July 6, fluid dresses flowed across the Italian marble runway to an operatic techno remix that boomed through the venue at the Palais Brongniart in Paris.

The collection zeroed in on gowns, especially pleated column dresses emanating Greek goddess energy. Second-skin turtleneck bodices connected to corset dresses while silk draped asymmetric jersey gowns trailed behind the models. Elsewhere, oversize silk jackets and black slinky dresses grounded a collection full of pastel neutrals where shades like grayish pink and light tan reigned supreme.

“This season, we wanted to concentrate on the achievement of fluidity, drape, and shape through couture techniques,” Kim Jones, artistic director of Fendi couture and womenswear, wrote in the show notes. “We worked on a template based on Delfina’s high jewelry. If there is no jewelry, the idea is still present through the color palette and embellishment in the collection.”

Couture fall 2023 was very much on the mark in terms of the ethos Jones has been creating for the label over the past few years: a particular kind of aesthetic that exudes expensive flashiness and an understated mood simultaneously. It was easy to see Jones’s signatures, both on the runway and in the front row—with Cardi B, Shakira, Adwoa Aboah, and Suki Waterhouse dressed the part.

Couture is famously all in the details. Here, Jones presented a case for modern trompe-l’oeil, as knitted dresses were covered in little crystals, furs were rendered in chevron constructions, and crystal woven sets resembled a dense sort of modern armor. The rose-colored crystal look that closed the show took over 1,200 hours to create.

What differentiated Fendi’s fall 2023 outing from others at this season’s haute couture week was the way it captured high jewelry—a signature for the Roman house. Models held little leather clutches that looked like jewelry boxes; lace sheath dresses glimmered with crystals. It all tied the collection together, as the color palette was taken directly from black diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. No matter how extravagant you think haute couture clothing might be, white and yellow diamonds and green, orange, and pink Padparadscha sapphires on the runway presented an even bigger case for ostentatious adornment. After all, even the flashiest sequins can’t compete with diamonds.