FENDI FALL 2026 COUTURE: A STUDY IN ROMAN CRAFTSMANSHIP

At Fendi, the material often comes before the silhouette. That principle shaped Maria Grazia Chiuri’s first couture collection for the Roman house, presented in July 2026 at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea. Rather than treating couture primarily as an exercise in elaborate construction, Chiuri approached the collection through the tactile qualities of leather, fur, velvet, tulle and finely worked textiles, allowing each material to determine how a garment should move around the body.

The setting was particularly significant. The show took place alongside the opening of a reproduction of a 1985 exhibition devoted to Fendi and originally conceived by Karl Lagerfeld, connecting Chiuri’s arrival to an important chapter in the house’s history. The choice of Rome also placed the collection firmly within Fendi’s own cultural landscape, a city that has shaped its visual language and identity since its beginnings.

Founded in Rome in 1925 by Adele Casagrande and Edoardo Fendi, the house began as a fur and leather-goods workshop on Via del Plebiscito. Its early expertise in materials became central to its development, while the five Fendi sisters — Paola, Franca, Carla, Alda and Anna — later helped establish the family business as an international fashion house. Fendi’s Selleria tradition, derived from techniques learned from Roman saddlers, remains one expression of that practical, hands-on heritage.

Chiuri’s interpretation of this history is less concerned with nostalgia than with the continued possibilities of craftsmanship. The collection is built around the idea that couture at Fendi should respond to its materials, rather than forcing them into predetermined forms. That approach is visible in garments where leather, fur and embroidery become structural elements rather than decorative additions.

Among the most intricate pieces are those employing intarsia, a technique particularly associated with Fendi’s history of working with fur and leather. One floor-length coat transforms leftover fur and leather pieces into a floral composition, bringing together different atelier skills in a single surface. Elsewhere, leather is inserted into georgette in graphic black-and-white patterns, creating a garment whose visual balance depends on the precise placement of each element.

The technical demands become particularly apparent in couture pieces designed around the individual wearer. A georgette dress incorporating leather strips, for example, requires its graphic motif to be positioned in relation to a specific body. The result is not simply a printed or applied pattern, but a composition that has to be recalculated through the construction of the garment itself.

That attention to the body continues through the collection’s silhouettes. Chiuri explored the kimono as an organising idea, translating its generous proportions into jackets and coats for both women and men. Velvet and grain de poudre bring a more tailored character to the forms, while silk linings and soft draping preserve a sense of movement.

Capes provide another connection to Rome, drawing on the visual language of papal dress without reproducing it literally. Their dramatic proportions are balanced by an emphasis on lightness, while tulle is used to create translucent, almost architectural layers. A soft smoking in panne velvet introduces another interpretation of formal dressing, retaining the precision of evening tailoring while allowing the material itself to soften the effect.

The collection also draws from a broader history of European art and design. Deco-inspired arabesques appear across several dresses, while references to the Bauhaus and Vienna Secession recall artistic movements that influenced Lagerfeld throughout his career. These elements give the collection a historical vocabulary, but their use remains integrated into the clothes rather than becoming literal costume references.

Colour is deliberately restrained. Black and parchment form the foundation, joined by tonal shades that allow the workmanship to remain visible. Parchment carries a particular relevance for Fendi, recalling the house’s historic association with luggage and leather goods. The palette also connects with the wider visual direction of the Maison, allowing the surface treatments and construction to provide much of the visual interest.

The collection’s relationship with the Fendi sisters is equally important. Chiuri has returned to their working lives as a source of inspiration, particularly their image as independent women engaged in the business of fashion. Their influence is not presented as a historical tableau but as an attitude towards modern dressing: practical, self-possessed and responsive to contemporary life.

This perspective also connects to Chiuri’s own history with Fendi. She began her career at the house in 1989 before subsequently working at Valentino and Dior. Her return therefore carries a personal dimension, but the collection remains firmly focused on the future of Fendi couture rather than a reconstruction of her earlier years there.

The relationship between Fendi and Karl Lagerfeld forms another important strand. In 1965, the five sisters appointed Lagerfeld as the house’s first artistic director. During his tenure, he introduced the FF logo and helped transform the way Fendi approached fur, establishing a particularly productive relationship between experimentation, material and craft.

Chiuri’s collection acknowledges that legacy while shifting the emphasis towards the artisans themselves. The handwork is not hidden beneath the finished silhouette. Instead, embroidery, lace, intarsia and carefully joined materials become central to how the clothes are understood. Couture here is presented as a process as much as a finished object.

That philosophy is particularly appropriate for a house whose origins remain closely tied to specialised workshops. A century after its founding, Fendi continues to maintain its Fur Atelier at the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, preserving techniques connected to the Maison’s material heritage.

For clients wishing to experience Fendi’s current collections in person, the official UAE store locator lists boutiques at The Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates, Level Shoe District and The Galleria in Abu Dhabi, among its six UAE locations.

Chiuri’s first Fendi couture collection ultimately makes a measured argument for the continuing relevance of handcraft. Its most compelling details are often the quietest: the meeting of leather and georgette, the placement of an intarsia motif, the weight of a velvet cape or the precision required to make a pattern sit correctly on an individual body. In Rome, where Fendi began a century ago, couture becomes less about spectacle than about the accumulated intelligence of materials, makers and time.

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