Maria Grazia Chiuri's Fendi show, staged inside a box of mirrors, broken down look by look. Almost half the looks were all black and about half carried a bag, from a house that knows exactly what its Baguette means.
Fendi Spring 2027: Fashion Is Part of Our Language
A song without meaning
In 1972 the Milanese musician Adriano Celentano released a song written entirely in gibberish meant to sound like English, to see if it could still move people. It bombed, then two TV performances turned "Prisencolinensinainciusol" into a hit across Europe. That song dominated the soundtrack at Maria Grazia Chiuri's Fendi show, mixed with Raffaella Carrà's "Rumore," and I think it was the right key to the whole collection.
At a preview Chiuri said, "Fashion is part of our language." She also said putting a collection together is like being a DJ, and that it is impossible to concentrate on only one aspect. So this is a show of references, mixed loudly, and you are meant to feel it before you decode it.
A room made of mirrors
The runway was a mirrored box inspired by Luciano Fabro's "Cubo di specchi," and the audience sat around it. The models moved inside, so you saw them fairground style, in repeated, blurred reflections, and you saw yourself at the same time. It made the clothes hard to look at, which I suspect was the point.
People leaving the show were delighted that their own faces ended up in their runway videos. I find that a slightly funny comment on how we watch fashion now, mostly on a phone and usually with ourselves in the frame. It also means the photos matter more than usual here, because they are the only clean look anyone got.
Black, with a bit of rock and roll
In the pictures the collection is harder-edged than her first Fendi seasons, with a little more color. Almost half the looks are all black, and there is a glam-rock edge to them: long black dresses with grommet-punched cutaways at the back, dresses fringed in beads and fur, a black coat-dress with gold frogging.
Fur or shearling shows up on more than a third of the looks, including a menswear jacket in roughly cut pelts and an Afghan-style coat-dress worked in geometric Fendi patterns. Silk romper shorts edged in lace come under bralettes and fur, and bra tops show on more than a quarter of the looks. There is leopard, and a striped shirt opened low at the chest that feels very Celentano. I like the black best when it is this undone.
The bag is half the story
About half the looks carry a bag, which is no surprise from the house of the Baguette, and Chiuri said there is a new Baguette resized to hold only a phone. I think that is the most honest accessory of the year, because that is all most of us carry anyway.
Denim appears on only a few looks, so this is not a jeans collection, whatever the soundtrack suggests. What I would take from it is the mix: a fur piece or a fringed dress worn like something you threw on, with a small bag and nothing precious about it. It is a collection that deserves a second look, the way the song deserved a second performance.
