Fendi · SS27 · Milan24 September 2026

Fendi SS27 in Milan: a mirrored box borrowed from Luciano Fabro, a 1972 song written in gibberish

Fendi's spring 2027 show put the audience inside the thing they were trying to look at. Fabro was an Arte Povera artist, and his Cubo di specchi works by trapping the viewer with their own reflection while a performer they cannot properly see occupies the interior. Chiuri set the runway inside a version of it. Celentano's record was written as deliberate nonsense, syllables shaped to sound like English to an Italian ear, to test whether a song could work with no meaning in it at all. It was played at Vogue World in Milan the night before this show as well. Both reviewers noted the same thing about the set: the mirrors made the collection hard to see.

The weekly

NewsletterWeekly One email a week. Every post from the week, and what didn't fit on a slide. Free. Never shared. Unsubscribe any time.

The post, as it ran

01FENDI SHOWED SPRING 2027 IN MILAN ON 23 SEPTEMBER INSIDE A MIRRORED BOX, SO THE AUDIENCE WATCHED THE CLOTHES THROUGH THEIR OWN REFLECTIONS.

02MARIA GRAZIA CHIURI DESIGNS FENDI. THE MODELS WALKED INSIDE THE BOX AND WERE ONLY PARTLY VISIBLE THROUGH IT.

03HER ACCOUNT OF HOW SHE WORKS: "PUTTING THIS TOGETHER IS LIKE BEING A DJ." SHE SAID SHE CANNOT CONCENTRATE ON ONE ASPECT ALONE.

04SO SHE MIXED REFERENCES. ONE IS THE BOX ITSELF, TAKEN FROM LUCIANO FABRO'S SCULPTURE CUBO DI SPECCHI, HIS MIRROR CUBE.

05IN FABRO'S WORK THE VIEWER MEETS THEIR OWN REFLECTION WHILE SOMEONE THEY CANNOT SEE OCCUPIES THE INSIDE.

06ANOTHER IS A RECORD FROM 1972. ADRIANO CELENTANO WROTE IT IN GIBBERISH MADE TO SOUND LIKE ENGLISH, TO SEE IF IT STILL MOVED PEOPLE.

07IT FLOPPED. TWO TELEVISED PERFORMANCES THEN TOOK IT UP THE CHARTS IN ITALY AND ACROSS EUROPE. RAFFAELLA CARRA WAS ON ONE OF THEM.

08BOTH RECORDS PLAYED AT THE SHOW: CELENTANO'S DOMINATED THE SOUNDTRACK, WITH CARRA'S RUMORE MIXED IN.

09THE CLOTHES: LONG BLACK DRESSES WITH GROMMET-PUNCHED CUTAWAYS AT THE BACK, AND DRESSES FRINGED IN BEADS AND FUR.

10AN AFGHAN-STYLE COAT DRESS IN GEOMETRIC FENDI PATTERNS, ANOTHER IN BLACK WITH GOLD FROGGING, AND SILK ROMPER SHORTS EDGED WITH LACE UNDER BRALETTES AND FUR.

From the archive

ArchiveArchiveKarl Lagerfeld designed for Fendi for 54 years, from 1965 until his death in 20197 beatsRead ArchiveArchiveThe Fendi Baguette is named for how you hold it5 beatsRead Open on Instagram