Remember the days when you’d never imagine two luxury brands supporting each other? Well those days are well gone, as we’ve seen Balenciaga and Gucci partner up for Gucci’s Aria collection, in what was called a hack. And more recently, news broke that two other major fashion houses are joining forces to release an exclusive partnership: Fendi and Versace, and last night the big reveal was finally made. Versace took to Instagram to post Donatella Versace’s personal invite to ‘an intimate creative experience,’ which was as mysterious as it sounds.
Suddenly, our phones all went buzzing with Instagram notifications showing that both Fendi and Versace’s Instagrams were going live. Both accounts began live-streaming a fashion show, which turned out to be a combined show where Kim Jones and Donatella Versace swapped lives for a few moments.
Our favourite models strutted down the runway, from Gigi Hadid to Naomi Campbell and even Kate Moss, all covered in Fendi x Versace motifs and monograms. The mashup between the brands was cleverly named ‘Fendace.’
The partnership was not a collaboration, as Versace took to Instagram, “Fabulous Friends – The Swap presented @mrkimjones’s vision for Versace and @donatella_versace’s interpretation of Fendi. This is not a collaboration. The coming together of two iconic fashion brands in this way presents a unique moment in fashion and a first for the industry. Both a celebration of Italian fashion and a disruption of the established order of things, the swapping of roles stands for freedom, fun and friendship.”
Rumours of the partnership between the two fashion houses began to circulate when The Business of Fashion reported that Versace had sent out an invitation to selected fashion insiders, inviting them to a top-secret event. Even before the invite had leaked, rumours had actually began when Kim Kardashian West took to Instagram to post a photo with Jones and Versace, captioning it “LEGENDS!!!”
