KIM JONES | FENDI

The creative director of Dior Men in Paris and the designer behind Fendi’s womenswear in Rome is, in fact, the same person. From his very first collection for the French maison, British designer Kim Jones struck an unexpected chord with the female audience. So when, two years later, in the midst of a global pandemic, the opportunity arose to take over Fendi’s womenswear, he seized it without hesitation — undeterred by the additional workload.

Despite its weighty heritage, Fendi has always stood apart from its luxury counterparts, embracing unpredictability and evolution. From 1965 until his passing in 2019, Karl Lagerfeld held the position of artistic director — originally brought in to revive the house’s fur collections. A decade later, he added prêt-à-porter to his responsibilities, achieving enormous success. The German designer is rightly considered one of the greatest minds in fashion history — a Renaissance man who believed fervently that “anything is possible.” Beyond his era-defining tenure at Chanel, Lagerfeld’s career spanned a staggering number of houses — Pierre Balmain, Jean Patou, Krizia, Charles Jourdan, Tiziani, Valentino, Chloé — and several more no one ever even knew about. His ability to manage multiple fashion houses simultaneously was a testament to his talent, knowledge, and design genius.

Jones, whose own path is no less remarkable, is often compared to Lagerfeld not because of a shared aesthetic — that, he insists, wouldn’t be accurate — but because of a shared fearlessness and clarity of purpose. Like Lagerfeld, Jones is a machine: always working, always planning his next move. His name has been tied to brands like Hugo Boss, Mulberry, Iceberg, Dunhill, Louis Vuitton, and even Kanye West’s Pastelle line. He’s received numerous accolades for his contributions to fashion. For Jones, success comes down to curiosity — the desire to explore the world and adapt to constant change.

It’s been two years since he joined Fendi, but Jones says it still feels like the beginning. “As soon as I arrived, I started working with my new team without a second thought. Everything moved quickly, but it all worked perfectly. What defines a house like Fendi is the familial bond — the solidarity between its people. That’s a healthy foundation for any kind of growth, especially creative,” he says.

I ask him about his relationship to womenswear — something he hadn’t previously specialized in — and what inspires him. “What’s fascinating about designing for women is the vast variety of possibilities,” he says. “I don’t focus on just one kind of woman — I couldn’t. I spend time with all sorts of women, and they all inspire me. My goal is to dress contemporary women in my vision of Fendi. I believe in family as an ideal — something strengthened by values and knowledge passed down through generations. That’s what I want to keep alive. It’s why, alongside Silvia Venturini Fendi, I also wanted her daughter, Delfina, to be part of this new chapter for the house.”

Delfina Delettrez Fendi’s great-grandparents, Adele and Edoardo Fendi, founded the company in 1925 on Rome’s Via del Plebiscito, specializing in fur and travel goods. Global recognition came in 1946 when their daughters — Paola, Anna (Silvia’s mother), Franca, Carla, and Alda — took over. These five distinct personalities formed a powerful matriarchal alliance that shaped Fendi’s identity. When Lagerfeld joined, he didn’t overlook this unique family dynamic. On the contrary, he elevated it into the brand’s central philosophy — one that embodied the spirit of Made in Italy.

Kim Jones is continuing that vision. “At the core of my work at Fendi is the desire to celebrate and empower femininity,” he says. “I work alongside incredible women and I love listening to their stories and learning through collaboration. I pay attention to their needs and try to respond to them. These are intelligent women with full lives — careers, families, social circles. For me, the word ‘collection’ is intrinsically linked to the women of the Fendi family — their wardrobes, their way of life. So when I design, I focus on ideas that make their everyday experience easier and more beautiful.”

When I ask about the role of savoir-faire at Fendi — and how it reflects his personal approach to creativity at a time when fashion is becoming increasingly digital and sustainability is a must — his answer is passionate. “Craftsmanship is fundamental to the house. It’s amazing to work with people who create priceless things with nothing but their hands. On the surface, craftsmanship and digital tech may seem opposed, but in reality they complement each other. At Fendi, we care deeply about the human touch — and how technology can enhance it in a meaningful way. I want people to understand what we do, in detail. You can only truly appreciate a garment when you understand the care and love that goes into making it — the generational knowledge and the dedication to craft. Fendi has a rich history filled with timeless designs that celebrate luxury, and honoring that is essential to our future in fashion.”

For Jones, what matters isn’t the cost of something, but its soul — the human quality that breathes life into design. Art, he says, is what moves us. And in fashion, many things are done simply for the sake of beauty — and that’s reason enough.

Fashion was Jones’s way of creating a personal, imaginative universe — one that could hold all the things he loved as a child, in a way that photography or graphic design never could. What drew him in was its multidimensional nature: fashion includes history, film, music, photography… the full spectrum of culture. He was 14 when his older sister handed him a stack of i-D magazines. The moment he flipped through them, he knew he wanted to be part of that world.

His influences are wide-ranging, and deeply personal. After losing his mother at a young age, he spent much of his childhood accompanying his geologist father to remote locations across the globe — Ecuador, Kenya, Botswana, Ethiopia — places where clean water was scarce, and his father worked on irrigation projects. After finishing school, he studied at Central Saint Martins under the late, legendary Louise Wilson, whose students included Christopher Kane, Phoebe Philo, Jonathan Saunders, and Erdem Moralioglu. He launched his career in the early 2000s and quickly gained recognition for blending contrasting materials into exciting hybrid pieces, reimagining the ’90s through rave references and London nightlife. His own label — which he paused in 2008 after being hired by Dunhill — helped spark the luxury sportswear trend that exploded during lockdown. In 2020, he was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to fashion — on his birthday, no less.

The Fendi Spring/Summer prêt-à-porter collection, shown last September, was a burst of color and modern energy. Electric hues — fluo green, cobalt blue, fiery red — transformed the brand’s typically neutral palette. The iconic Peekaboo bags reemerged with chain straps, while the Fendi First minis featured delicate chains that wrapped around the wrist like jewelry. The collection highlighted the female form and borrowed from menswear tailoring, with clear nods to ’90s minimalism in both cut and styling.

“This collection is about continuity,” Jones said post-show. “I wanted to study Karl’s beautiful work and see how we could develop it — technically and visually. Fendi has an incredible archive. I was captivated by floral prints and a logo first used in 1996. You might think referencing something like that could anchor a collection in the past — but we made it feel completely now.”

A few months later, at the start of the new year, Jones unveiled the Fendi Haute Couture collection in Paris. What followed was an ode to the ethereal — a quiet reinvention of silk’s movement over the body, evoking classical sculpture from ancient Athens and Rome, as well as the glamour of 1930s black-and-white Hollywood. Though fur and leather no longer dominate, they’ve been gracefully replaced by silk satins, Chantilly lace, and exquisite embroidery. The palette was soft, the silhouettes seductive — anchored by the slip dress, a subtle callback to ’90s grunge.

Now entering his fifth season at Fendi, Kim Jones is clearly defining a new identity for the house — one that speaks to today’s woman while honoring the past. “Designing a collection is always a risk,” he says near the end of our conversation. “You never know if it’ll be appreciated, or meet expectations. But I feel lucky, because what I do gives me total freedom — to follow my instinct, to bring my ideas to life. I always approach fashion as an observer, with eyes and ears open. It’s important to respect the identity of a house and think about what helps it evolve. My priority is Fendi. My biggest responsibility is to make it proud.”