Fendi Celebrates the Roaring Twenties at Milan Fashion Week in These Difficult Times

Milan transformed into the world’s fashion capital once again on Tuesday, as Fendi kicked off its spring/summer 2025 women’s shows with a fluid, 1920s-inspired collection — just enough to temporarily distract from the industry’s headwinds.

In an elegant and understated start to Fashion Week, Fendi creative director Kim Jones presented a collection to celebrate 100 years of the Italian luxury brand focused on “movement, lightness, excellence and ease.”

Filled with dropped waists, elongated shapes, sheer organza and shimmering beading, the looks drew inspiration from the seminal 1920s, with show notes citing the 1925 Art Deco exhibition in Paris and the publication of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.”

Black or gray bands hung low on the waists of sheer skirts, while long V-neck dresses in silk and organza were embellished with elaborate beading, all in never-boring neutral tones of cream, black, pearl gray and rich beige.

The Roaring Twenties may have been Fendi’s focus, but the luxury industry is struggling more in the 2020s, a century later, facing a challenging environment fueled by inflation, low consumer confidence and weakness in the key Chinese market.

That won’t take away from the glamour of Fashion Week, which runs through Sunday and this season benefits from the addition of an extra day – to better accommodate 57 live shows attended by buyers, journalists and other industry professionals.

Highlights of the week include Italy’s best-known luxury fashion brands, from Prada and Gucci to Bottega Veneta, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana.

Giorgio Armani, a loyal Fashion Week regular, will not be presenting his eponymous line this season, having chosen New York for his women’s collection on October 17, on the occasion of the inauguration of a new building on Madison Avenue.

Its mid-range Emporio Armani line will have two shows in Milan, followed by a party Thursday in the futuristic theater at its fashion headquarters.

Moncler also shunned Milan this season, opting for Shanghai for its October 19 show, with MSGM, Blumarine and Tom Ford also absent from the schedule.

Tom Ford announced two weeks ago that Haider Ackermann would be its new creative director – with his first collection set for fall 2025 in Paris – while David Koma would take over as Blumarine’s new director, following the sudden departure of Walter Chiapponi after just one season.

– Less pink –

Presenting the Milan Fashion Week programme to the press, the general director of Agenzia ICE, a division of the Italian Trade Agency that promotes Italian companies abroad, highlighted the sector’s turnover of 108 billion euros (120 billion dollars) and exports of 81.6 billion euros.

A crucial sector that accounts for 5% of Italy’s gross domestic product (GDP), the health of the Italian fashion industry is currently less rosy than the upcoming catwalks suggest.

Since the beginning of the year, turnover has fallen by 6.1 percent, according to figures from the National Chamber of Italian Fashion, and the trend is expected to continue in the second half of the year.

Forecasts suggest that sector revenues this year will end up falling by 3.5% from 2023 levels, with recent results from major luxury groups confirming these results, which contrast sharply with years of double-digit growth.

French luxury conglomerate LVMH, which owns Italian brands Fendi and Loro Piana, saw its first-half 2024 revenue fall 1% to 41.7 billion euros ($46.4 billion).

Its rival Kering, owner of Gucci and Bottega Veneta, saw its turnover fall by 11% to nine billion euros, with net profit down by half.

Around 245,000 people, 56% of whom are Italian, travel to Milan during the two Milanese women’s fashion weeks – in February and again in September – spending an average of 1,638 euros per person per edition, according to a recent study.

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