Milan, Italy
Creating a dialogue between architecture and fashion, Fendi collaborates with Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and together reveal a series of exclusive accessories made of “washi” paper, woven bamboo, birch bark, and Tuscan olivewood.
“Our partnership with Kengo Kuma creates not only a dialogue between Fendi and architecture but a conversation with another designer and their choice of artisans and materials,” states Silvia Venturini Fendi, Fendi’s Artistic Director.
“It is important that Fendi’s artistic projects continue to grow outside of Italy, as we recognize that creativity at scale is never the work of one person: it’s a cooperation between hands and minds and different talents and resources from around the world.”
Kengo Kuma has brought an architectural flair into Fendi’s new Spring/Summer ’24 Collection designing in reverence for ancient Japanese craftsmanship and raw natural materials that surface and materialize into bags and sneakers.
“When Fendi asked me to reflect on their bags and shoes, I thought of them like small architectural projects on a human scale,” Kengo Kuma explains.
Kengo Kuma has reinterpreted FENDI’s Peekaboo, Baguette Soft Trunk, and the FENDI Flow sneakers.
The FENDI Peekaboo has a basket-shaped design and alludes to the earthly materials he often draws up from the chafed look of the handbag.
The Baguette Soft Trunk version achieves sharper edges and a lighter shade flecked with wood chips.
Undulating lines and soft curves punctuate his sneakers collection, at times more underscored through the filaments of what may seem 3D-printed threads around the bottom part of the shoes.
Project: Kengo Kuma X Fendi
Designer: Kengo Kuma & Associates
Manufacturer: Fendi Srl