FENDI Couture Fall/Winter 2023: FENDI Triptych

FENDI Triptych celebrates a subtle majesty and feminine grace, fusing the rigour of Roman architecture with the eternal asymmetries, surprises and mirages of the natural world. Following the reveal of the FENDI Flavus parure in July 2022, this comprehensive exploration of High Jewelry through the FENDI lens is a neoclassical exercise in graphic abstraction – transforming the calligraphic FF motif in a myriad of delicate expressions.

In three chapters entitled Roma Rosa, Gioiello Giallo, and Bianco Brillante, a chromatic journey unfolds as the brilliance of white diamonds is refracted in icy shades of pale pinks and yellows. Through meticulous stone research, the FENDI High Jewelry color palette is forged in powdery shades, creating a veritable countercurrent to classical jewelry traditions: one perfectly in line with House codes set down by the Fendi sisters and perpetuated by Karl Lagerfeld, Silvia Venturini Fendi and Kim Jones. Their legacies are reflected in exceptional white and yellow diamonds, beautiful green, yellow, orange, green, pink and Padparadscha sapphires and spinels – all stringently chosen by Delfina Delettrez Fendi and the House gemmologist. Alongside reproducible designs, key creations from the collection featuring exceptional stones are one-of-a-kind pieces, never to be repeated.

Each unique creation within the FENDI Triptych collection is imbued with historic elements from the FENDI lexicon: from trompe l’oeil FF motifs hidden in plain sight, to structures that unlock lightness, transparency and the kinetic motion of articulated gold. A play of sensuality and geometry in precious stone craftsmanship occurs throughout, as the rigor and structure of the rectangular baguette-cut – itself a nod to the iconic FENDI Baguette handbag – plays against the perfect circularity of the brilliant-cut stones. Constructed from combinations of baguette-cut stones, geometric FF motifs appear and disappear like mirages within necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings, echoing the cursive ‘Karligraphy’ motif created by Karl Lagerfeld in 1981 and immortalized by Delfina Delettrez Fendi as a discreet homage to her matriarchal family tree.

Harnessing a sense of exquisite weightlessness, FENDI Triptych subverts the codes of traditional jewelry construction to create new FENDI heirlooms. From articulated chain necklaces to the reinterpretation of a tennis bracelet, drop pendants, and cocktail rings, asymmetry and symmetry play together in conversation with gravity as stones are suspended and cascades of gold create jewels in constant movement. Tessellation, repetition, fusion and abstraction of the FF occur throughout, intertwined in 3D volumes of white, yellow and rose set, with beautiful gemstones. Just like the FENDI Peekaboo handbag, the idea of intimacy and hidden beauty remains key to these sensual and romantic designs, conceived not just to be seen by others, but to be appreciated by the wearer herself.

ROMA ROSA

Echoing the softest, ladylike pinks omnipresent throughout the Ready-To-Wear and Couture collections of Kim Jones and Silvia Venturini Fendi alike, the Roma Rosa chapter is reminiscent of the varicolored tones found in the faded marbles, mosaics and frescoes of Rome. Three parures explore the romance and nostalgia of these delicate shades in a story of pear, oval and octagonal-cut pink sapphires and spinels surrounded by white diamonds. Showcasing a historical acquisition of rose poudré pink spinels, an articulated portrait necklace unveils a magnificent, reversed FF cage construction that floats upon the décolleté in a crescendo of oval-cut spinels with an emerald-cut spinel centerpiece. A matching cocktail ring, pendant earrings and bracelet are crafted with the same articulated structure.

Elsewhere, a sinuous ‘lariat’ pendant necklace is comprised of two diamond threads of whispering FF motifs that frame an oval-cut pink sapphire like wings, their feather-like form reflected in asymmetric drop chain earrings and an oval-cut pink sapphire cocktail ring. From icy pale pinks through rose and raspberry shades, the magnificent pink palette of the Roma Rosa designs creates romantic harmonies throughout the collection’s feminine architectures.

GIOIELLO GIALLO

Reprising the iconic FENDI yellow, a hue synonymous with the House that traces back to the introduction of the Pergamena parchment leather in the 1930s, this bright and joyous chapter evolves from the FENDI Flavus parure – the first High Jewelry pieces designed by Delfina Delettrez in 2022. Streamlined asymmetries are at play throughout, as two parures and a collection of cocktail rings range in tonality from Fancy Intense yellow diamonds and yellow sapphires to an unexpected splash of sunset shades.

The masterpiece of the Gioiello Giallo chapter is a diamond necklace drawn like a perfect circle entwined with asymmetric flourishes, as a double thread of baguette-cut and brilliant-cut diamonds is draped with the FF motif on its left side, culminating in a suspended chain of diamonds caught by a dazzling pear-shaped Fancy Intense yellow diamond. Matching earrings mimic the effect with one swooping FF against a streamlined double strand, whilst a draped brooch echoes the circular design in miniature. An enchanting double tennis bracelet in baguette-cut and round diamonds appears woven with whispering FF motifs in perpetuity.

A second parure of oval-cut and pear-shaped yellow sapphires emphasizes the floating majesty of Delfina Delettrez Fendi’s designs in conversation with the body. Both the triple-strand FF cuff earrings and FF pendant earrings frame oval-cut or pear-shaped yellow sapphires with white diamonds, and a double-finger ring wraps with whispering FF forms around an oval-cut yellow sapphire that seems to float above the skin. The final statement of the Gioiello Giallo chapter is an idiosyncratic set of four cocktail rings. Designed to showcase the spectacular fire of a magnificent collection of a cushion-cut orange sapphire and oval-cut green and pink Padparadscha sapphires. The exceptional coloured stones are surrounded by subtle FF diamonds flourishing in unique formations around each ring.

BIANCO BRILLANTE

As an exercise in clarity and the pure sparkle of all-white diamonds, the Bianco Brillante chapter embodies the feminine architectures of the FENDI Triptych collection to create a timeless expression of High Jewelry excellence. Evolving the cage construction into a glittering second-skin mesh, an articulated portrait necklace thought for both men and women, is dotted with oval-cut diamonds within a formation of tessellating FF motifs that tapers around the neck. Its dramatic crescendo is reflected in a fluid chain bracelet, and an inverted FF diamond motif earring punctuated with oval-cut and round diamonds.

A second all-white parure harnesses the power of the FF motif as a hook-and-eye mechanism, creating a circular necklace constructed of looped FF shapes studded with large brilliant-cut and pear-shaped diamonds as though dusted with morning dew. This helix formation continues in airy drop earrings crafted from a single FF dotted with multiple brilliant-cut diamonds and a suspended pear-cut diamond, echoed elsewhere in an asymmetric ring with twisted diamonds set in dialogue with a hooked FF motif. A final gesture of tangled FF forms embellishes a graphic, linear ring and earring parure, as the whispering shapes disappear into one another with a double paved strand creating a delicate, wavering expression of this quintessentially FENDI iconography.