On July 9, 2026, Rome will not only host the debut of Fendi’s first couture collection designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri, but will also unveil the exhibition “After a Journey Through Work. Fendi/Karl Lagerfeld 1985. After Steps Through Work.”
Just in the last few hours, the fashion house revealed the location of the fashion show, which will be held at one of the capital’s most important museums: the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, home to the most comprehensive collection of Italian and international art from the 19th century to the present day, with over 3,000 sculptures, paintings, and graphic works from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, by artists ranging from Giacomo Balla and Giorgio de Chirico to Renato Guttuso, to name just a few.
On the day of the fashion show, guests will be invited to a private tour of the highly anticipated exhibition dedicated to the house’s legendary couturier, which will be open to the public from July 10 to October 25.
This isn’t the first time Fendi has taken haute couture outside of Paris. In fact, the event will mark the third couture show held in Rome, the city that symbolizes the fashion house and the place where it all began. The most iconic precedent dates back to 2016, when Karl Lagerfeld himself designed the Haute Fourrure show—the name used at the time for the brand’s couture collections—staged at the Trevi Fountain, which was transformed into a catwalk suspended over the water. The show celebrated Fendi’s 90th anniversary and was accompanied by an exhibition hosted at the brand’s headquarters, the monumental Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana.
Maria Grazia Chiuri herself had chosen Rome, her hometown, as the setting for her latest collection for Dior in May of last year, against the spectacular backdrop of Villa Albani Torlonia. Before her latest show for Dior, Chiuri had also revealed her personal commitment to the restoration of the Teatro della Cometa in Rome, a project she has been working on for five years.
[📸 cultura.gov.it]
