New Style Idea

There are plenty of brands sticking with the chunky soled boot or platform for fall ’22 — but Fendi is not one of them.

The Italian luxury brand kicked off Milan Fashion Week on Feb. 23 with its fall ’22 runway event, showcasing a women’s collection that was full of more dainty, feminine touches, a contrast from some of the more sizable footwear and accessories that have dominated the market as of late.

Chief among the details was a ladylike pump, done in a pointy-but-square-toed silhouette that was outlined in a contrast sole on some styles. All came with a dainty ankle strap and durable fabric uppers (including some that featured the brand’s signature FF logo).

It was just one element of Fendi women’s artistic director Kim Jones’s more ladylike point of view for fall ’22. The pumps were the punctuation mark to looks that featured sheer chiffon slip dresses, asymmetrical mini skirts and shorts, opera gloves, crisp shirts shaped in sculpted bustier outlines and ruffled edges on everything from coats to skirts. Jones looked to the brand’s archives and found particular inspiration in a 1986 collection designed by Karl Lagerfeld and another one from the year 2000, ripe with ruffled sheer chiffon details that hit a bullseye on the design elements shaping the current Y2K obsession.

Bella Hadid opened the show, walking out in a sheer chiffon slip dress in a peachy pink hue with a red hemline and ruffled edging with a matching cropped shearling coat. Underneath, a mint green bra and panty set matched the opera gloves and handbag. On foot, she wore a nude patent leather version of the ladylike pumps.

Hadid’s opening look and the rest of Fendi’s fall ’22 collection encapsulate what looks to be a growing trend away from a severe, minimal look and towards one that is more embellished and detail-oriented — and yes, a bit Y2K-inspired.