Stefano Pilati Remixes Heritage in New Collaboration with Fendi
After six years of focusing on his own Berlin-based ready-to-wear brand, Random Identities, celebrated designer Stefano Pilati is crossing party lines. In June, Pilati hinted at a return to luxury fashion by walking in Pharrell’s debut menswear collection for Louis Vuitton. As the latest “Friend of Fendi,” a series started by Fendi Artistic Director Kim Jones and Creative Director Silvia Venturini Fendi to break through brand barriers and collaborate with other notable designers, the Milan native reconnects with his Italian roots.
Pilati’s collection for Fendi is redolent of youth and rebellion, and blurs gender and generational constructs. Hard textures meet softer silhouettes, while 1920s flapper–inspired, drop-waist dresses are reimagined for the contemporary woman. Created in tandem with Jones, the collection plays with Milano versus Roma styles, creating a fascinating dichotomy between established rules and liberated ideas.
The series, while dominant in its Italian heritage, also nods to Pilati’s years as creative director for Yves Saint Laurent by incorporating some of his signature motifs, such as tulip skirts and couture-level precision. Pilati and Jones’s competing styles find an easy cohesion in this Friend of Fendi collection, which exposes the layers behind garments, leaving form and figure at center stage.
