It would be hard to go further with his inexplicably matronly styles

Kim Jones’s leaving Fendi, announced last October, was no surprise. There was much compensatory talk about how he had contributed to the Italian house. Or, at least that was the official statement. Parent company LVMH’s Bernard Arnaud at the time said, “Kim Jones is a highly talented designer who has brought his unique and multicultural vision to Fendi over the past four years. I would like to thank him for his contribution and look forward to continuing to witness his creativity at Dior Men’s.” Mr Jones could have been that “highly talented designer”, but, ultimately, he was not talented enough to remain at Dior. Three months after stepping down from Fendi, Dior and he were no more.

Many have said that Mr Jones had not given Fendi a clear vision. Some observers even said that he was simply not a good womenswear designer. We tried not to suppose that (even when the urge had always been there), but when, we passed the Fendi store earlier today, we could not help pondering the truth of that assertion. We had been at Takashimaya Shopping Centre and had come face to face with the Fendi store. The first outfit in the window that shocked us was what might be considered a pajama style even when it was so clear to us that it really was a set of samfu—long-sleeved silk shirt (embroidered) and matching trousers. And in an unappealing brown. After we passed that ensemble, and was still in a state of disbelief, we came to two more utter insignificance.

One was a dusty pink, sheer shirt dress with a pleated front that could have been mistakenly placed on the mannequin by window dressers from Uniqlo, while the other, a similarly-hued knit-dress with patches of gold beadwork that had a whiff of OG at Christmas. We had no idea why they deserved to be in the window. Surely Fendi must have stocked nicer styles inside. When we were about to step in to see them for ourselves, it became too obvious that the store was dead quiet, even when the mall was really busy (could it be the lure of the 50% store-wide sale at The Editor’s Market?). We decided not to be the boutique’s only visitors. Window displays should be able to give would-be customers a clear idea of what the merchandise beyond that was about. This Friday afternoon, they were, regrettably, speaking to aunties who were not there.

Photos: Chin Boh Kay