Kim Jones and Fendi parted ways in October 2024 after an eventful four-year collaboration that saw the Roman house dabble with collaborations and destination shows. He was named to the role in 2020.
The British designer, whose title at Fendi was artistic director of haute couture, ready-to-wear and fur collections for women, is to continue in his role as artistic director of men’s collections at Dior in Paris.
As of mid-October a succession plan had yet to be revealed. The company said only that “a new creative organization for Fendi” would be announced “in due time” at the time of Jones’ exit.
According to market sources, Fendi has recently held discussions with designers including Pierpaolo Piccioli, previously creative director of Valentino.
During his tenure at Fendi, Jones frequently referenced ready-to-wear designed by Karl Lagerfeld, who had famously created furs and women’s rtw for the Roman house from 1965 until his death in 2019.
Jones also collaborated closely with Silvia Venturini Fendi, artistic director of accessories and menswear collections, and her daughter Delfina Delettrez Fendi, jewelry creative director, whom he considered a key muse.
He took a client-focused approach centered on real clothes and the lifestyle needs of his close circle of female friends, which includes the likes of Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Ronnie Cooke Newhouse and Victoria Beckham.
He took pride in commercial success, and frequently boasted that Fendi revenues grew during his tenure to surpass 2 billion euros. His collections received mostly positive, though hardly ecstatic, reviews, and it is understood some LVMH insiders looked dimly on some of his projects at Fendi.
In September 2021, he surprised the fashion world by pioneering a full creative swap: Donatella Versace designed a Fendi collection and Jones a Versace lineup for pre-fall 2022 retailing.
In 2022, Jones tapped Marc Jacobs to create a collection within Fendi’s spring 2023 women’s collection that was shown during New York Fashion Week, and also teamed with Tiffany & Co. for special Baguette handbags. He followed up in 2023 with a Stefano Pilati collaboration under the new “Friends of Fendi” banner.
A veteran of LVMH, Jones came on board in 2011 as men’s artistic director at Louis Vuitton, parlaying his zest for exotic travel into ultraluxurious collections with understated cool and sly functionality. He helped ignite the luxury streetwear phenomenon with the landmark 2017 collaboration with Supreme, the cult New York skatewear brand.
Since joining the men’s division of Dior in 2018, Jones stepped up the pace of collaborations, mostly with fine artists including Daniel Arsham, Kaws and Amoako Boafo, but also the surfwear maven Shawn Stussy, and the Jordan brand.