Fendi meets a Great British Bake Off icon for AW21

Fans of the Great British Bake Off with a passing interest in fashion will likely be fully aware of Noel Fielding’s penchant for the odd offbeat designer shirt. Across the course of the last four years, the presenter has slipped into archival Vivienne Westwood, wavy Dries Van Noten, and even some smiley Raf Simons before stepping into the show’s legendary tent. But what they might not be familiar with – unless they’re a longtime fan or follow him on Instagram, that is – is the scribbly, surreal artwork he’s been creating since way back before The Mighty Boosh landed on our screens in the early 00s.

Seemingly, Silvia Venturini Fendi is among those fully au fait with Fielding’s art, given she’s plastered it all over her AW21 menswear collection for Fendi. With the label previously shining a spotlight on the likes of John Booth and @heyreilly, this time around, Fielding’s ‘multicoloured, stream of multi-consciousness’ markings – which turn the Fendi logo inside-out and back-to-front and offer flashes of cosmic creatures – appear on knitted sweaters, quilted robe-like coats, and a series of boxy shirts we can totally see him wearing when GBBO is back on our screens later this year. 

The rest of the collection was made up of cosy styles for ‘the new normal’, with ribbed long-johns layered over chunky cable knit sweaters, loose pyjama-like trousers and shorts worn with padded, sleeping-bag-like coats, and ‘weird and wonderful’ cardigans with wraparound sleeve collars paired with shearling lined slippers and combat boots. Naturally the Italian house’s double-F monogram played its part too. As seen across new iterations of the iconic Baguette and tiny bags worn round models’ necks, also on the line-up was an FF-emblazoned blown-up XXL shopping bag – ideal for ensuring no one gets within two feet of you when doing your big shop down at Tesco. 

Check the collection out in the gallery above and rewatch the show here.