Less I, more us.
It reads like a slogan primed for a tote bag. In practice, at Fendi AW26 – shown yesterday in Milan – it felt more like a structural rewrite of how a House understands authorship, power and desire.
This is not Maria Grazia Chiuri’s first time inside the Roman palazzo – she designed at Fendi in the late ’80s and ’90s before her years at Dior – but it is her first collection back under her own name. And rather than staging a solitary comeback, she framed the moment as collective authorship. Less ego trip, more sisterhood summit.
The slogan nods to the five Fendi sisters who built the brand’s mythology and to a history emblematic of both an Italian and distinctly female way of working. Chiuri isn’t just reviving that memory; she’s repositioning it.
“Us” here doesn’t mean nostalgia. It means collaboration across disciplines, generations and genders. Men and women walked the runway together, their wardrobes overlapping until “feminine” and “masculine” ceased to function as opposites and instead became adjectives: descriptors of shared qualities rather than opposing teams. Clothes, the collection insists, belong to everyday existence. To emotion. To life.
Leather jackets, laser-cut dresses and flowing lace gowns created a collection that walked the line between refined and rebellious. Black dominated the palette, punctuated by occasional flashes of crimson, ivory, and tiger print. Spaghetti straps, see-through tulle, and floating collars nod to Chiuri’s Dior past. Collaboration was another key theme: jewellery with sculptor Mirella Bentivoglio and graphic tees with SAGG Napoli hinted at a Fendi led by women, for women.
Accessories were more than adornments – they were statements. The detachable collars became an aerosol favourite, playful and instantly giving the wearer an attitude. Oversized sunglasses and sculptural animal-print bags reinforced the collection’s wit without overwhelming it. It’s the kind of detail that makes you want to leave the front row and raid your wardrobe immediately.
The collaboration with the Archivio of Mirella Bentivoglio gave the collection its cognitive voltage. Bentivoglio treated language as object, breaking words apart to expose their instability. Her 1970s jewellery, revived here in limited editions, turns puns into precious metal.
It’s witty, yes. But it’s also disruptive. Jewellery becomes sign. Clothing becomes poem-object. Logos feel less like branding and more like semiotics in motion.
Chiuri’s collection was a study in tension. Structured black suits sat alongside flowing dresses; delicate lace met leather harnesses. Each piece suggested a woman who is aware of her sensuality but doesn’t need to announce it. This was modern armour – elegant, confident and slightly mischievous.
Rewatch the show
