Kim Jones and Donatella Versace switched roles to create Fendace with two unique collections: Versace by Fendi and Fendi by Versace.

The coming together of Fendi and Versace, two iconic fashion houses, or more rightly, two iconoclastic groups of people, has led to this unique moment in fashion. Both a celebration of Italian fashion and a to-hell-with-it disruption of the established order of things, Fendace is Fashion with a capital F – and a capital V. Together they stand for Freedom, Fun and Virtuosity.

Crossing the ‘party lines’ of luxury conglomerates – inspired purely by friendship and mutual professional respect – the double signature of Fendace is a swap, with roles exchanged. For the first time, Donatella Versace and Silvia Venturini Fendi have stepped away from their respective family houses to be inspired by the other’s vision, while Kim Jones – by now an old hand at inhabiting and reinventing other peoples’ houses – points the way.

Inspired by the mid-to-late nineties period of the storied house, Versace by Fendi explores an idea of duality, most pointedly seen in a melding of the Fendi Monogram with the Versace Greek Key motif. Here, garments metamorphose, many revealed to be reversible with hidden codes and the exquisite craftsmanship of the Fendi atelier on display, such as in chainmail-made leather. Here a multigenerational approach is embraced throughout. Fendi byVersace takes a more punk rock stance with Donatella Versace declaring contamination and disruption to be key.