On Thursday night, the billboards of Times Square were lit up with the iconic Roman yellow hue of the Fendi house as artistic directors Kim Jones, Silvia Venturi Fendi and Delfina Delettrez Fendi celebrated a blockbuster year.
Delfina Delettrez Fendi, Kim Jones and Silvia Venturini Fendi.MASATO ONODA/WWD
On Thursday night, the billboards of Times Square were lit up with the iconic Roman yellow hue of the Fendi house. The historic moment for the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton brand was in honor of its artistic directors’ achievements over the past year. As over 45 digital billboards blanketed the famed New York landmark with the Fendi name, artistic directors Kim Jones, Silvia Venturini Fendi and Delfina Delettrez Fendi took to the tourist-crowded streets for a moment of celebration.
“I think it’s been a really good year for Fendi, and there’s lots more to come,” Jones said amid the golden glow, which was inspired by the sunsets over Rome.
“It’s a projection of what we’re doing, all the energy we are putting into things. I think it’s a way of celebrating a fantastic year,” Venturini Fendi, the house’s director of accessories and men’s wear, echoed. “We had a lot of fun. We work so much that it’s important to have a positive attitude and enjoy it.”
In January, Jones kicked off a blockbuster year with Demi Moore, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss debuting his first Fendi Couture collection, followed by debut ready-to-wear runway shows with stellar women’s wear collections. Since arriving at the house a year ago, the artistic director has embraced the Fendi heritage, legacy and DNA, as well as the Fendi family, invigorating the label with modernity alongside Venturini Fendi and Delettrez Fendi. Jones’ achievements for the house, including collaborations with Kim Kardashian West for Fendi x Skims in October, as well as the surprise “Fendace” design swap with Donatella Versace in September, all led to the billboard takeover.
“To me, [Times Square] was something futuristic, something so different from Rome and peculiar of New York. It’s a landmark of the city — the lights, projection. It’s a window to the future,” Venturini Fendi stated, adding that seeing her and Delettrez Fendi’s family name was one of strong emotion. “The first thing I thought about was thinking about my grandparents, from the small Rome shop in 1925 to all of this. Thinking about the past, thinking about the present and the future. I’m so excited for what’s happening now at Fendi, and to be together with someone I really love. This is a boost of energy.”
“You know, I love New York. I’ve been coming here for years and years — it’s somewhere that’s really important to me. I’ve been quite lucky, I’ve been able to come here even when it was locked down, but it’s nice to see it coming back to life and things happening again. I think we all feel the same and understand what’s going on in the world and have to be sensitive to it,” Jones expressed, adding that his views of Times Square while growing up were “pretty glamorous!”
“This is where people come when they come to New York to see what’s going on, and they see Fendi.”
