The Fendi show just confirmed short-shorts and man bags really are back

With not an umbrella hat in sight, this afternoon, Fendi’s SS19 menswear presentation drew the Dazed fashion team’s time in Milan to a close. Before we head to Paris for some of the biggest shows of the season – namely Kim Jones’ first outing at Dior Homme and Virgil Abloh’s Louis Vuitton debut – here’s everything you need to know.

THE SET WAS UNCHARACTERISTICALLY DARK  

Where usually the Fendi runway is pretty brightly lit (to say the least), this season the lights had been lowered until the space was quite the opposite. Featuring an entirely black runway buffed to impossibly shiny levels, the scene was lit by rows of red neon lights and a red arch from which the models emerged.

...AND FEATURED ILLUSTRATIONS BY NICO VASCELLARI

...the artist and musician renowned for his involvement with Italy’s punk art scene. Having previously joined forces with Karl Lagerfeld to create a series of collaborative illustrations for Fendi, Vascellari’s images – of devils, angels, and statements reading ‘FENDI ROMA AMOR’ were rendered in red neon and reflected in the polished black catwalk. Fun fact: the artist is also creative director Silvia Venturini’s son-in-law. It’s a family affair.

SO, SHORT-SHORTS ARE DEFINITELY IN NEXT SEASON

As seen as part of Miuccia’s Prada collection yesterday, Silvia Venturini furthered the argument for barely-there shorts for SS19. Paired with boxy, oversized bowling-style shirts layered over long-sleeved t-shirts, and finished with monogrammed FF bucket hats and square pink and yellow-lensed sunglasses, the look was a polished take on 90s rave style.

...AND SO ARE MAN BAGS

Venturini made a strong case for the return of the man bag, too, with logo-emblazoned duffles, bumbags, pouches, and mobile phone holders designed to be worn around the neck all providing the finishing touches to most of the looks.

THE FENDI LOGO WAS EVERYWHERE   

Printed across the collection’s wide, boxy shirts, embossed on wide-legged leather trousers and single-breasted macs, and peeking out from the linings of suede Varsity-style bomber jackets in the season’s palette of burgundy, brown, red, tan, and taupe, that instantly-recognisable FF logo was omnipresent. Following the launch of FF Reloaded earlier this year, which re-imagines the iconic motif for a new generation, this time around the monogram was soft around the edges as if it was drawn by hand.