Kim Jones’s second ready-to-wear collection for Fendi—and his first shown to a live audience—strikes a distinctly celebratory note. To convey that sense of unbridled joy, Jones looked to the carefree 1970s disco glamour that reached its zenith on the Studio 54 dance floors. More specifically, he looked to Antonio Lopez, the legendary illustrator who dazzled the nightclub with his crew of glamour girls—think Jerry Hall, Pat Cleveland and Bianca Jagger—and whose exuberant works defined the era. For spring/summer 2022, Jones unearthed illustrations by Lopez from the Fendi archives, commissioned by Karl Lagerfeld, and splashed them onto a ’70s-centric collection. Lopez’s vivid brushstrokes were abstracted onto kaftans and silk shirts; his figurative drawings turned into leather intarsia, lace and jacquards. But it is on the bags that Lopez’s sensuous, spirited illustrations truly sing—in particular, a Peekaboo adorned with a profile of a big-haired, red-lipped woman that ends in a swirl of rainbow brights.
The Peekaboo ISeeU Small bag is available at Fendi, #B1-22 to 25 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands (tel: 6688 7119).