Marc Jacobs’ interpretation of Fendi is a collection that explores the Fendi iconic silhouettes and bags. The designer is a long-time friend and mentor to Kim Jones and this collection reflects both that personal relationship and the respect he holds for Fendi as a house and the birthplace of an iconic item of pop product: The Baguette and the Fendi icons.

Rarely does a fashion item go beyond its realm to occupy a space in the wider culture — but the Baguette has done just that. The Fendi by Marc Jacobs collection is at once an interpretation and a celebration of the Baguette in its 25th anniversary year together with the city in which its place in pop culture history was sealed: New York.

Taking inspiration from the object itself, a conflation of moments in time, as well as the spirit and geography of a place, the Baguette is realized in multiple ways, both in terms of clothing and accessories.

In this rough-cut romance between uptown and downtown, luxury and utility, excess and reality, the Baguette and the clothing and accessories it inspires are at once defined as a moment in history and part of a continuum with today.

For Jacobs, grand dimensions from another time are contrasted with the humble origins of today and in so doing banish notions of costume in his collection. A reflection of the glittering and gritty New York cityscape, the casual is made formal in parachute train skirts,
balloon-backed broken denim jackets, rustling cellophane opera capes and fluoro recycled fur stoles and hats. The glitter of rhinestones, silver and fluorescent yellow pervades, becoming an almost literal example of ‘local color’ inspired by the glass frontages and workman’s hi-vis vests to be found on the city’s streets.

Exaggerated, platformed and oversized, the take on the Baguette itself also shares something of these silhouettes’ grand gestures — elongated and gleaming, replete with multiple mini versions of itself attached.

FENDI is located at Greenbelt 4, Makati.