The Fendi Set: From Bloomsbury to Borghese

An enchanting exploration of the creative inspiration of the Bloomsbury Set on Kim Jones’s artistic direction of the fashion house Fendi.

In September 2020, Kim Jones was named head of Fendi’s couture and womenswear, marking a new era for the Italian brand. This publication examines Jones’s relationship to the legendary Bloomsbury Set: the early twentieth-century community of British writers, intellectuals, and artists, including Virginia Woolf, Duncan Grant, and Vanessa Bell, who inspired the collection and his creative process.

Enriched by ethereal photographs by Nikolai von Bismarck, this book spotlights the iconic landmarks of the Bloomsbury Set and Fendi. Beginning with Charleston House, Knole House, and Sissinghurst Castle in England, then travelling to the set of haute couture in Paris, the volume comes full circle at Rome’s Villa Medici and Villa Borghese — where the histories of Fendi and the Bloomsbury Set meet. Diverse photographic methods such as Polaroid, traditional film, and Super-8 film stills bring Jones’s creations to life, as well as reflect the Bloomsbury Set’s experimental techniques, while his eternal muses, including Christy Turlington, Demi Moore, Gwendoline Christie, Kate Moss, and Naomi Campbell, conjure the poetry of the present. With letters, diary entries, and excerpts from Bloomsbury members, this exquisite book will appeal to aficionados of fashion, literature, and photography

About the Authors:

Fendi is an Italian fashion brand established in Rome in 1925. Kim Jones is the creative director of Dior Men and the artistic director of Fendi’s couture and womenswear. Nikolai von Bismarck is a photographer specializing in portraiture, reportage, and fashion. Professor Mark Hussey is a Bloomsbury Set scholar at Pace University. Jerry Stafford is a writer and the creative director of Premiere Heure.