Fendi Fall 2025: A Century of Fur and Finesse

What to wear to a 100th birthday party? Fur, Fendi emphatically responded last night, In a show that celebrated its centenary and presented its men’s and women’s FW25 collections.

The crowd began gathering outside hours earlier: around 12:30, a group of 50, mostly young women, had assembled on the venue doorstep, posters in hand, awaiting the coterie of celebrities that would arrive that night. By showtime seven hours later, they crowded the surrounding footpaths and streets. Inside, where the venue had been decorated to resemble the Fendi boutique salons of generations past, it was no less hectic. 

From look one, the dress code was clear: a fur coat, followed by fur jackets, fur stoles, furry bags and shoes, fur dragged along the ground. Fendi began as a fur goods and leather handbag shop and, 100 years later, Silvia Venturini Fendi demonstrated that the maison had lost none of its enthusiasm for the material. 

Beyond fur, the party was a formal affair, with smart peplum jacket-skirt sets and embellished dresses in warm colours. For the women, hair was arranged in buns reminiscent of Heidi; for men, slicked back. 

The soundtrack had the energy of a party in which no one can agree on what to play – one moment, bops like I Giardini Di Kensington by Patty Pravo, the next, the solemn credit music of Conclave (Postlude of Conclave by Volker Bertelmann). But ending on Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up by Barry White for the finale was a crowd-pleasing choice everyone could appreciate.

With the departure of artistic director Kim Jones in October, Silvia Venturini Fendi was back at the helm of the women’s collection, and when she came out to greet guests following the finale they received her with a standing ovation.  

And after the show? A real party, held in the venue, with champagne and tiny hors d’oeuvres. Fittingly, many guests wore fur.