Fendi serves palette cleanser for label's optimistic outlook
There is a sense of mild panic on the opening day of Milan fashion week. Despite some big hitters showing (Dolce & Gabbana, Prada and Valentino), with three A-list fashion labels absent from the calendar (Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Versace), it is hard not to link this shrunken lineup with the impact of the the coronavirus pandemic on the industry.
It has been nearly a year since Giorgio Armani had to cancel invites to his show and presented his collection behind closed doors because of the virus. Business has continued to decline – according to estimates by the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI), which organises Milan fashion week, total turnover at Italian fashion companies has declined by 25%.
So if you are a fashion designer, there are reasons to be glum. But Fendi’s creative director, Kim Jones, remains optimistic. “Our sales have been crazy,” he says during a pre-show Zoom interview. “People are buying everything they buy normally – there is that element of dressing up that people are desperate for. They want to dress up.”
For Fendi – perhaps best known for its baguette handbag and Karl Lagerfeld’s stewardship – its customers have not stopped living lavie enrose. “The customers have not stopped buying, they can’t do what they normally do, so they are buying lots of things,” he says. “I’m constantly surprised by what people buy.”
The spending power of the Fendi woman can be seen in the collection, which focuses on opulent minimalism. Film noir-ish capes, snakeskin boots and unfortunately enough fur to feel problematic. The sleek looks, which would not look out of place on Kill
ing Eve’s Villanelle or The Flight Attendant’s Miranda Croft, were modelled on the women in the Fendi dynasty: the menswear creative director, Silvia Venturini Fendi, and her daughter Delfina Delettrez.
“This collection is for them – I’ve got the best group of women who I want to dress,” said Jones.
Still, the shadow of Lagerfeld, who was with the label for more than 50 years, must cast a dominating spell. Something which Jones is quick to dismiss. “Nobody is Karl and I respect that.”
He calls the label’s new era an “evolution not a revolution” and this season’s ready-to-wear collection a “palette cleanser” for where Fendi is going. Unlike Jones’s ornate couture collection from last month, there were no star turns from the likes of Demi Moore, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and daughter Lila Moss; instead, this collection has an electric energy about it which suggests a girl about town (pleated wool shorts, oversize handbags and body-con dresses, with a good lashing of the shade of the moment, brown) in an urban sprawl we can only dream of exploring.
It is an achievement considering the circumstances Jones was creating under. “We were working through an exceptionally challenging time, working through Covid, Brexit,” he says. “I’ve gone from being in isolation, to working with a small team, to being in isolation.”
The digital shows are also a challenge. Despite the last Milan fashion week in September reaching more than 43m viewers via an official streaming channel, a digital show is not the same as a physical one, with Jones saying he misses the crowds. “It’s hard doing two big debuts without an audience, you miss the community at shows.”
Despite the obstacles it is a hopeful collection, optimistic in that it suggests that going out again, and even the “roaring 20s”, are within our grasp.
Statins are generally not the cause of the muscle aches and pains that stop some people taking the pills prescribed to protect them against serious heart problems, according to a novel study that hopes to dispel some of the concerns.
Two million people in the UK who are at higher risk of heart attack and strokes are eligible for statins, but many people refuse them or have stopped taking them because of sometimes alarming and widespread reports of muscle pain. But the study funded by the National Institute of Health Research showed that most people had the same aches and pains whether they were taking a statin or taking a dummy pill that looked and tasted just like a statin.
Those who say they have pains while on statins are not imagining it, said Liam Smeeth, professor of clinical epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and senior author of the study in the British Medical Journal.
“We’re not saying anyone is making up aches and pains at all. These are real aches and pains. What we’re showing very clearly is that those aches and pains are no worse on statins than they are on a placebo,” he said.
The study compared each individual’s symptoms at different points in time on the placebo and on the statin rather than comparing one group against another group. That made their findings “really quite convincing”, said Smeeth. It also meant there was no need to have thousands of people in the trial.
They recruited 200 people who had stopped taking statins after reporting severe muscle pains or were thinking about stopping, and ended up with 151 from 50 GP practices in England and Wales. Over the course of a year, each person was assigned to three periods of two months on a statin and three periods of two months on a placebo – but in a random order, so that neither they nor their GP knew what they were taking at any point. Each participant recorded the muscle aches and pains they felt throughout that time.
Overall, the researchers found people had reported slightly more symptoms on the placebo than the statin, but the difference was not enough to be significant. During the year, 80 people withdrew from the study – 32 because of intolerable muscle symptoms. Of those, 18 experienced the pains on statins and 13 on placebo.
At the end of the trial all participants were invited to see the GP to find out their results. Two-thirds decided they would resume their statins. In the case of the 96 people who were told it was unlikely statins were contributing to their aches and pains, 65 resumed taking the pills (68%). Among the 17 who were told statins could possibly be contributing, nine decided to give them another try (53%).
Most of the people in the trial were in the 65- to 79-year-old age bracket, with a quarter aged 50-64 and smaller numbers of other ages. There was no explanation for their muscle pains.
“Aches and pains are sadly pretty common in people in their 70s, and it’s not surprising people look for a cause for those,” said Smeeth.
“We didn’t go into detail about what was causing their aches and pains, but what we did show was that it wasn’t any worse on statins versus placebo. So undoubtedly aches and pains are common, I’m sorry to say. It’d be great if we could cure them all, but no.”
The team would like to see these individual studies carried out in patients who experience muscle pains on the pills but admit it would be difficult because they would need ethical approval and for the placebo pills to be manufactured and randomly allocated. But they hope the results will encourage people at risk of heart problems to persevere with statins.
“Our work should reassure those already taking statins or thinking about taking statins. These drugs prevent heart attacks and save lives. In very rare cases they can cause muscle pain, but the vast majority of people will not be affected. The benefits far outweigh the risks,” said Smeeth.