For Spring 2026, Fendi staged a masterful return to maximalism under the singular vision of Silvia Venturini Fendi, marking her first solo Spring collection following a creative transition for the house. Departing from the muted tones of recent seasons, the collection delivered what critics called a “therapeutic shock of joyful abandon,” injecting Milan Fashion Week with a much-needed blast of optimism and electric color. Set against a playful, pixelated backdrop designed by Marc Newson, the clothes were a collage of “many different thoughts”—blending sci-fi futurism with the swinging sixties, and sportswear practicality with haute couture refinement. The show was a vibrant dialogue between high-octane color-blocking, technical precision, and an unexpectedly tender inspiration drawn from the mechanics of childhood clothing. This is Fendi at its most inventive: elegant, irreverent, and ready to redefine luxury through texture and theatrical detail.
The New Fendi Era: Embracing Therapeutic Color
The Fendi Spring 2026 collection was more than a seasonal offering; it was a deliberate statement about the brand’s direction under the full creative control of Silvia Venturini Fendi. Stepping away from the recent trend of “quiet luxury,” Fendi embraced a bold, emotional, and loud aesthetic, signaling a new chapter rooted in the house’s legacy of playfulness and craftsmanship.
The overarching mood was one of exuberant escapism. Venturini Fendi’s palette was a startling shock of saturation: rich cardinal reds, intense Yves Klein blues, vibrant turquoise, and the pinkest of bubblegum pinks clashed gleefully with earthy tones like chocolate brown and sandy neutrals. This color story was used as a primary design element, appearing in geometric, color-blocked squares across outerwear and leather goods. The collection’s inspiration was surprisingly intimate, with the designer noting her contemplation of childrenswear and the mechanics of clothes made for growing bodies. This resulted in an unexpectedly sophisticated use of functional details—a theme that anchored the entire ready-to-wear lineup.
The Geometry of Ease and Technical Lightness
The silhouettes for Spring 2026 successfully married the seemingly contradictory concepts of sportswear function and bespoke couture. Venturini Fendi refined utilitarian elements, turning them into points of elegant structural interest. The most defining feature was the use of adjustable elastics and grosgrain pull-tapes.
These simple mechanisms, typically found on performance wear, were transformed into sophisticated design devices, appearing on tailored jackets that cinched gently at the hem, and on halter dresses that adapted their shape with a single, casual tug. This technique allowed for silhouettes that felt relaxed—with loose, 80s-inspired suiting—while maintaining a subtle, adaptable definition. Furthermore, sheer fabrics were a pervasive theme, adding an element of sensual lightness. Organza, mesh, and delicate lace were used for shirting, jackets, and sheer dresses, often layered over matching satin lingerie or sporty separates, creating a look that was part escapist sex appeal, part athletic precision. This fluid, co-ed collection—which seamlessly blended menswear staples like wool tracksuits and tuxedo-bibbed blouses into the women’s offering—created a shared vocabulary of “lightness of being,” where pieces moved with the wearer rather than containing them rigidly.
The Secret Garden: Flowers, Fur, and Intricate Craftsmanship
At the heart of the Spring 2026 collection lay a recurring, captivating motif: the flower. This was not merely a print but a sculptural and technical study in Fendi’s savoir-faire, executed across the entire spectrum of materials.
The florals bloomed in multiple dimensions, reflecting the designer’s refusal to be pinned down by a single aesthetic. They appeared as enlarged, pop-art style cut-out daisies appliquéd onto leather dresses and jackets, lending an otherwise monochromatic piece a Warhol-esque pop. In contrast, they were rendered as delicate, blurred prints on whisper-light sheer fabrics. The true marvel of the collection’s craft was evident in the fur pieces, where the floral motif was painstakingly constructed from individual florets into a show-stopping faux-fur coat—a piece that highlighted the atelier’s technical mastery in creating texture and illusion. This focus on intricate detail extended to materials like perforated leathers, woven raffia, and cable-textured knits, proving that Fendi’s commitment to texture and craft is the enduring anchor of the house, even in its most playful iterations.
The Accessory Reimagining: Maximalism in Miniature
Fendi accessories—the domain traditionally guarded by Silvia Venturini Fendi—were the joyful exclamation point to the entire Spring 2026 collection, signaling a decisive shift away from austerity. The brand’s most recognizable icons were given whimsical, maximalist makeovers, proving that fun and fantasy are now integral to the Fendi lexicon.
The beloved Baguette, for instance, appeared beaded with floral motifs, crafted from glistening cable-knit silk, or entirely covered in sequins—a direct nod to the extravagance of the 1960s and 70s. The Peekaboo, typically an emblem of understated elegance, was reimagined with a subtle exterior that concealed a playful lining of sequins or tinsel, creating a playful secret revealed only to the wearer. New shapes were introduced, capturing the collection’s spirit of artisanal play: the Fendi Collier resembled a string of elegant, oversized beads with its ruched leather and bauble handle, and a new Hobo bag featured sliding pom-poms. The footwear continued this blend of craft and ease, featuring woven loafers and slingback sandals crafted from knit and chain-link cording, while jewelry by Delfina Delettrez Fendi featured coral-shaped FF earrings and enamel nugget pendants, rounding out the bold, tactile vision of the Fendi woman.
A Centenary Legacy: Innovation Rooted in Family
The Spring 2026 show was a landmark event, not just as a bold aesthetic pivot, but as a deeply personal statement about the house’s century-old legacy. As Fendi guides the brand towards its centenary year, the collection emphasized the enduring power of family history and Italian craftsmanship.
The Marc Newson-designed set, a geometrical, pixelated landscape of colorful stacked steps, served as the perfect visual metaphor for the collection’s theme of proportion and play—a graphic backdrop that echoed the color-blocking and structured ease of the clothes themselves. By consciously incorporating themes of childhood and adaptability, Venturini Fendi paid homage to the multigenerational nature of the house founded by her grandparents. The deliberate choice to feature a diverse cast of men and women of varying ages and sizes reinforced the message that these clothes are meant to be lived in and adapted by the wearer. In a month packed with designer debuts across Milan, Fendi’s stable, yet creatively unbound vision—anchored by the founding family’s creative voice—stood out as a confident declaration: that the future of luxury is bright, colorful, and joyfully inventive.
