Fendi designer pays tribute to female-led fashion powerhouse

Male designers and their supersized egos have dictated what women wear for most of the past century.

But it is the female side of the Fendi family who have been in the driving seat throughout the 98-year-old history of their Italian luxury house, and the British designer Kim Jones is smart enough to realise that Fendi is not about him.

“Fendi is a female-led, multigenerational house, and that is what I love about it,” said Jones backstage before the catwalk show, which opened Milan fashion week on Wednesday.

Silvia Venturini Fendi, whose grandparents Adele and Eduardo founded the house, now designs menswear and accessories; her daughter Delfina does the jewellery. “So with Silvia, Silvia’s mother, Delfina, and Delfina’s daughter, who is nearly 16, I have the point of view of many women.”

The Fendi women are a tribe of “sophisticated working mothers who also enjoy having a good time”, said Jones. “They are a really fun family. They are women who like to do stuff. Women who are always evolving, who are interested in what’s new.”