Fendi Brought Back Retro Color Blocking and Sleek Pumps for Spring 2024
Shannon Adducci
Style Director
It’s no secret that Kim Jones wanders through — and utilizes — the vast Fendi archives that are at his disposal. As the artistic director for Fendi’s womenswear, Jones often pours over the Italian fashion house’s past collections for inspiration and remixing. Most of those collections came from Karl Lagerfeld’s tenure, which lasted from 1965 to 2019. Last season, for example, Jones looked to Lagerfeld-designed Fendi collections from 1981 and 1996 to create a fall ’23 lineup of intarsia knits and color paletting.
Jones also brought a thoroughly vintage flair to the brand’s spring ’24 collection, which walked the runway Wednesday at Milan Fashion Week, more or less kicking off Italy’s portion of fashion month. But this time around, there wasn’t a specific historical reference, per se. Instead, the designer focused on real life luxury, which was executed through Fendi’s heritage of leather craftsmanship and of other materials. It was a new-old look that focused on great pieces instead of look-at-me moments. Yes — quiet luxury.
The designer continued to weave a new aesthetic to Fendi’s footwear, a continuation of a muted fall ’23 lineup of simple leather boots. Gone are the Colibrí mesh pumps (they judging from their persistence in Fendi’s footwear merchandising, they are still popular), or even the Fendi First cantilevered heels. In their places, a series of sleek, well-polished leather pumps with high vamps, gold anklet hardware and the hint of a hidden inner platform took hold for the spring ’24 collection. While appearing to be made of sturdy (i.e. less flexible and therefore perhaps more uncomfortable) leather uppers, the higher coverage on the shoes is likely to provide a more more ease from security. These pumps look like they give a little and take a little when it comes to comfort.
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A closer look at the heels, however, revealed a devil-in-the-details moment. What appeared to be a simple leather pump from the front was actually an embellished heel from the back, dotted with small, elegant gold hardware half-rings that matched the gold anklets. The details echoed other blink-and-you’ll-miss craftsmanship elements throughout the accessories lineup, from delicate arm jewelry and rings over gloves to new color blocking and details on handbags.
As if to acknowledge the perilous nature of the pumps, or send out a footwear consolation prize, Jones also sent out a series of simple, scrunched ballet flats, which also featured the same leather treatment and gold hardware anklets attached to them.
For the sake of current trends and comfort — we’ll take the ballet flat.
About the author:
Shannon Adducci is the Style Director at FN, reporting on runway and fashion weeks, trends, celebrity style and fashion’s role in pop culture, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, gender identity and women’s equity issues. She also directs FN’s cover shoots and visual packages, contributing to the publication’s video direction. Prior to Footwear News, Shannon held positions at Departures, Billboard and Modern Luxury, was a celebrity stylist and specialized in fine and estate jewelry. She is an avid collector of vintage fashion, shoes and jewelry.
