Fendi released its Fendi Cruise 2027 pre-collection in Milan on May 27, 2026, marking Maria Grazia Chiuri’s first resort outing as the house’s chief creative officer. Titled “The New Bourgeoisie,” the collection arrived not on a runway but through a short film, Oltre lo Specchio (Beyond the Mirror), referencing Karl Lagerfeld’s 1977 debut campaign for Fendi’s first ready-to-wear line, according to the WWD Fendi Cruise 2027 review.
It is Chiuri’s second Fendi collection overall, following her Fall/Winter 2026 debut during Milan Fashion Week in February.
The Collection Concept: A Shared Wardrobe
Chiuri framed Fendi Cruise 2027 around a single philosophy: “Less I, more us.” The pieces are designed to move with women across a working day — no costume change required between meeting, dinner and evening event.
“Fendi was established by women who worked minimum eight hours per day,” Chiuri said of the brand, founded in Rome in 1925 by Adele and Edoardo Fendi. The target customer, she added, is “a bourgeoise with real lives who move.”
The lineup leaned on patchwork coats, fur-trimmed vests with folk influences, tailored separates, pleated skirts and 1920s-flavored frocks. Black and parchment anchored the palette, with fire red, avio blue, metallics and animal prints used as accents.
Key Pieces and Fabrics
Parchment — Fendi’s historical luggage material — anchored both the color story and the collection’s three-piece suiting. Trenchcoats arrived with black detailing and fur stripes. Feather-light evening gowns were knitted from silk and cashmere yarns.
Workwear-inflected separates sat alongside column evening dresses. The emphasis throughout was on tactile quality, durability and sensuality through texture rather than embellishment. The seasonless, combinable approach signals a deliberate shift away from spectacle-driven luxury and toward functional, repeat-wear pieces.
The Baguette: Back to Origins
Chiuri reissued the Baguette in parchment with studded black leather details — a personal homecoming as much as a commercial one.
“We reedited that Baguette that I really loved…taking it back to the origins.” — Maria Grazia Chiuri, Chief Creative Officer, Fendi
Chiuri led development of the original Baguette during her first Fendi tenure between 1989 and 1999, before moving to Valentino and then Christian Dior. The Cruise 2027 iteration extends the house’s broader 2026 heritage strategy, which included Fendi’s Baguette 26424 re-edition launch in New York earlier this year.
Campaign: ‘Oltre lo Specchio’
The collection was presented via a short film titled Oltre lo Specchio — Italian for “Beyond the Mirror.” The film is a direct homage to Jacques de Bascher’s 1977 Histoire d’Eau, commissioned by Karl Lagerfeld to launch Fendi’s first ready-to-wear line.
Its noir aesthetic mirrors the parchment-and-black color story. The reference bridges Fendi’s centenary — the house turned 100 in 2025 — with Chiuri’s contemporary repositioning of the brand.
The film format also sidesteps the traditional resort show circuit, where Chanel Cruise 2027 in Biarritz, Dior Cruise 2027 at LACMA, Gucci Cruise 2027 at Times Square and Louis Vuitton Cruise 2027 at The Frick have dominated headlines this resort season.
Context: Chiuri’s Fendi Era
Chiuri joined Fendi as chief creative officer in 2026 after eight years at Christian Dior. She succeeded Kim Jones, who exited the women’s role in late 2024. Maria Grazia Chiuri’s Fendi debut arrived in February with the Fall/Winter 2026 collection during Milan Fashion Week.
“Fashion is not entertainment. Fashion is a job.” — Maria Grazia Chiuri, Fendi CCO
The line draws a deliberate distinction between Chiuri’s approach and the spectacle-driven model favored by several LVMH peers in 2026.
Cruise 2027 also previews Fendi’s packed Milan and Rome calendar, including Fendi Couture in Rome this July and the recent Fendi Design Prize at Milan Design Week. LVMH-owned Fendi is currently targeting flagship expansion and travel-retail demand, part of the conglomerate’s broader 2026 reset that also includes Givenchy’s new leather goods direction and Dsquared2 Resort 2027.
What to Watch Next
Fendi has not yet confirmed a delivery window for The New Bourgeoisie pre-collection in stores. Industry timing typically places resort drops in flagships between November 2026 and January 2027. The reissued parchment Baguette is expected to anchor the accessories rollout. Chiuri’s Fendi Couture show in Rome this July will offer the next read on her broader vision for the house — and the first indication of whether the pragmatic, working-women framing translates to high-stakes haute couture.
