PARIS — Fendi was in the spotlight again on Friday after it revealed it was stepping down as artistic director of haute couture, ready-to-wear and women’s fur collections after a checkered four-year tenure. A design vacancy has been revealed to collect.
The Roman house said in a brief statement late Friday that he will “now focus entirely on his role as artistic director of Dior Men’s.”
The development comes amidst feverish (and often spurious) speculation about the grand game of musical chairs being played at the highest echelons of European fashion.
There was no mention of succession plans, only that a “new Fendi creative organization” would be announced “in due course”.
Fendi recently held talks with designers including Pierpaolo Piccioli, former creative director of Valentino, according to market sources.
Friday’s statement focused on Jones’ tenure, which brought collaborations and destination shows.
The finale of Fendi’s Spring 2024 haute couture show in Paris.
Provided by Fendi
“Kim Jones seamlessly integrated his contemporary and cross-cultural aesthetic with Fendi’s historical traditions and made a significant contribution to the brand’s creative heritage.” “Under his leadership, the Maison reinvented its ready-to-wear and haute couture collections, offering a comprehensive and innovative approach to fashion, and constantly reinventing Fendi’s Italian canons.”Throughout four years, Jones’ The work was completely guided by passion and creativity.
Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, praised Jones as “an extremely talented designer who has brought a unique, multicultural vision to Fendi over the past four years.” We thank him for his contribution and look forward to witnessing his creativity at Dior Men in the future. ”
Jones was one of the rare designers to straddle two luxury brands in two countries.
Still, his departure from Fendi adds to the creative upheaval currently roiling an industry facing a slowdown in luxury spending and consumer caution.
As reported, market sources say that the employment contracts of Maison Margiela’s John Galliano, Loewe’s Jonathan Anderson, and Jil Sander’s Lucie and Luke Meyer will be signed by the end of 2025. It is expected to expire by the beginning of the year. There are also creative openings at Chanel, Dries Van Noten and Jean Paul Gaultier.
During his time at Fendi, Jones frequently referenced ready-to-wear designs by Karl Lagerfeld. Lagerfeld was famous for creating furs and women’s RTW for Roman Maison from 1965 until his death in 2019.
Jones also collaborated closely with Silvia Venturini Fendi, artistic director of accessories and menswear collections, and Delfina Deletrez Fendi, daughter of the jewelry creative director, whom he considered important muses.
Over the past year, he has spoken enthusiastically about preparations for Fendi’s 100th anniversary in 2025, but declined to provide specific details of his plans.
When Jones joined Fendi, he became the latest acclaimed menswear specialist to expand his fashion universe into womenswear, following in the footsteps of Hedi Slimane and Raf Simons.
Our first work at Fendi took a customer-focused approach centered around the lifestyle needs of Real Clothes and our closest female friends, including Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Ronnie Cooke Newhouse and Victoria Beckham.
In an interview ahead of his Fendi RTW debut in February 2021, he simply said, “I want to create clothes that women want to buy.” I’m not going to lie. I think that’s my job. I want all my friends to say, “I want it now.” ”
Fendi, Fall 2021
He was proud of his commercial success and frequently boasted that Fendi’s revenues had increased to more than 2 billion euros during his tenure.
His collections have received largely positive reviews, with some LVMH insiders taking a dim view of some of his projects at Fendi. It is understood that there were also.
In September 2021, he surprised the fashion world by ushering in a complete creative shake-up. Donatella Versace designed Fendi’s collection, and Jones designed Versace’s pre-fall 2022 retail lineup. They were collectively known as the Fendas collection and were sold on Versace and Fendi websites and boutiques, as well as in pop-ups around the world.
Images from the Fendas Fendi by Versace campaign.
Courtesy of Fendas
In 2022, Jones commissioned Marc Jacobs to create a collection within Fendi’s Spring 2023 women’s collection, which was presented during New York Fashion Week, and also partnered with Tiffany & Co. for a special Baguette handbag. In 2023, it announced a collaboration with Stefano Pilati under the new “Friends of Fendi” banner.
Mr. Jones also endured management turmoil during his four-year term.
Last May, Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou was appointed CEO of the Italian luxury company, in addition to his role as managing director of the LVMH fashion group.
He succeeds Serge Brunschwig, who served as Fendi’s chairman and CEO for six years, building the brand’s retail network, investing in industrial infrastructure and forming a joint venture with Design Holding. , founded Fashion Furniture Design (FF Design) and developed Fendi. Casa business.
A veteran of LVMH, Jones became Louis Vuitton’s men’s artistic director in 2011, channeling his passion for exotic travels into ultra-luxe collections that are understated, cool and slyly functional. . He helped spark the luxury streetwear phenomenon with his groundbreaking 2017 collaboration with cult New York skatewear brand Supreme.
Since joining Dior’s men’s department in 2018, Jones has picked up the pace of collaborations, primarily with fine artists such as Daniel Arsham, Kaws and Amoako Boafo, but also with surfwear titans Sean Stussy and Jordan. – Collaborating with brands. The latter produced one of the most popular sneakers of 2020, the Air Jordan 1 OG Dior Limited Edition.
Jones has had a storied fashion career, including Galliano purchasing her graduation collection for Central Saint Martins.
He initially launched his signature menswear label. Known for its sporty, streetwear edge, the Kim Jones brand lasted eight seasons and caught the attention of Dunhill, who served as its creative director from 2008 to 2011.
