Fendi was originally established as a leather workshop by Adele Casagrande, and since the Italian house has made its fundamental mark on the luxury retail sector with its fabulous, couture furs. Today, the dramatic collections Karl Lagerfeld designs for the brand meet vast acclaim from the fashion cognoscenti, but ultimately when all said is done Fendi is all about lavishly opulent, beautifully luxurious high fashion furs. Fendi’s strength in this niche makes for sumptuously extravagant, copiously deluxe fall collections. However, translating the label’s furry quintessence into a spring collection is no easy task. Thus, for Spring 2006 Karl Lagerfeld designed a fresh, prim, and light line emboldened with punchy details channeling the signature Fendi-isms.

This season Lagerfeld grafted the outsized buckles of the B. Fendi Bag on wide leather belts and used them ubiquitously. The new Fendi look is all about the tightly clinched waist. May it be a lace embossed poodle skirt or a sharply tailored skirt suit; the B Belt is the element that brings every Fendi outfit together.

As for Karl’s light and ephemeral ensembles; they were decorated with delicate piques, eyelet lace accents, flouncy ruffles, pastel colored fox hems, communicating a lady like Bellé Époque feel with a Fendi touch. The dominant color palette was one of monochromatic whites and blacks, enlivened by splashes of flamenco red, sapphire blue, zingy orange and citrus yellow.

Even when he steers in the general direction of modest propriety, Karl does not neglect to throw in a few pieces for his wildly experimental customers. The patent circle skirts, fluffy fur boleros, and abbreviated suede bombers we saw on the Fendi runway this time around fall into exactly this category.

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