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Alessandro Michele, the designer behind Gucci’s spectacular revival, faces a difficult choice: take the helm of a big brand or bring back to life a fashion label that disappeared 40 years ago and which many have forgotten outside of Italy.

LVMH is offering him on a silver plate the creative directorship of Fendi, the group’s third-biggest fashion brand in terms of revenue. There is another proposition on the table that is closer to his heart but also riskier: resuscitating Walter Albini, considered the father of Italian ready-to-wear.

Albini was a brilliant dandy designer who shot to fame in the late 1960s and 1970s.But he did not live long enough for many people to remember him after his death. Albini died of AIDS in 1983, at the height of his stardom, at the age of 42. Albini’s work had as much impact on fashion as Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent at the time, fashion historians say. For industry insiders Albini is ripe for revival - and Michele is the ideal creative to do it.

The late Italian designer was copied by many of his contemporaries and later successors such as Gianni Versace. Albini was one of the first designers to make genderless a major trend in fashion, something Michele has also been known for. The long-haired and tattooed Italian stylist, who spent 20 years at Gucci and became creative director in 2015, admitted several times in interviews to being inspired by Albini’s legacy.

Fendi is power, Albini is adventure. Fendi is prestige, Albini has huge potential and Michele is the right person to exploit it. Not an easy decision.

The Walter Albini brand and its archives were acquired last year by Bidayat, an investment company founded two years ago by Rachid Mohamed Rachid who is also CEO of Mayhoola and chairman of fashion brands Balmain and Valentino.

A person close to Bidayat said Rachid and Michele were due to meet soon to discuss the project. “From what we understand, Michele has not taken a decision yet (regarding Albini or Fendi). It’s for him to decide.” The source confirmed that Michele told Rachid about LVMH’s offer but he did not mention Fendi concretely, respecting the group’s wish to keep the name under wraps.

Another Milan industry source said that the “deal was done” between Fendi and Michele but that could not be confirmed. LVMH, Rachid and Bidayat declined to comment for this report.

FENDI

If Michele became Fendi’s new creative director, he would certainly jazz it up and give the brand new relevance. One of many reasons why Michele would be a good fit for Fendi is that Rome is also his city. Michele feels profoundly Roman, a proud citizen of the city founded by Romulus and Remus more than 3,000 years ago. He understands what being Roman means in terms of attitude and fashion. Just like British designer Daniel Lee understands much better what Burberry’s Britishness is about than did Italian designer Riccardo Tisci before him. Fendi needs to reconnect with its Roman roots, fashion insiders argue.

Tapping into his vast knowledge of the city’s art and history, Michele could help Fendi build a strong Roman identity and celebrate in style its 100th anniversary in two years.

Fendi was founded in 1925 by Adele and Edoardo Fendi as a specialized bag and fur workshop. Lagerfeld joined the fashion house in 1965, where he would stay for five decades, a record in the history of fashion. LVMH acquired Fendi in 2000 when it had only a handful of boutiques.

In 2020, Kim Jones stepped into the big shoes of Lagerfeld a year after he passed away. With hindsight, many fashion critics say the British designer was perhaps not such a good choice. Jones is also the creative director of Dior’s menswear, a big job for which he is getting more praise than for his work at Fendi.

UNDERPERFORMING

In spite of Jones’ beautiful designs, Fendi has been underperforming luxury peers. “For me Kim Jones did not get Fendi,” one senior fashion critic told Miss Tweed. “What he does is impeccable, very elegant, very luxury, very timeless but it does not give you much emotion,” she said. Another fashion critic in Milan said: “Yes, I hear that Kim Jones is out of favor, so we’ll have to see what happens.”

To be fair, Fendi is not an easy brand to work for, particularly since its heritage is strongest in bags and fur - not in clothes. Some fashion critics argue that Karl Lagerfeld did not make such a strong imprint on Fendi either in terms of fashion persona. Lagerfeld had the genius idea of the interlocking Fs for the logo and produced memorable designs for fur but his work for ready-to-wear was not as strong as what he did for Chanel and before that for Chloé and other brands, fashion historians say.

Fendi matriarch Silvia Venturini Fendi, who worked many years alongside Lagerfeld, is still in charge of Fendi’s menswear and accessories. Her daughter Delfina Delettrez Fendi looks after the brand’s jewelry since 2020. She presented her first high jewelry collection in July. They are respectively the third and fourth generation of the Fendi family. After the show in September, Venturini said that for her, the Fendi woman was “proud, independent and chic.” That’s not enough to build a strong identity for a brand.

When you walk into a Fendi boutique, everything shines. It’s clinically clean, like many of Jones’s designs. There are lots of sparkly products to choose from, but the atmosphere lacks that warmth and personality a big luxury brand such as Fendi could have. Emotions -- not sparkles -- are what makes consumers pull out their credit card. This is particularly the case now that the industry is going through a slowdown and competition is as fierce as ever.

MAGIC

Michele could apply at Fendi the same magic he used at Gucci, particularly with handbags – a brand’s main source of profit. At Gucci, his revamp of the Dionysus bag was a huge success and helped power the brand’s growth from €4.5 billion to more than €10 billion.

Michele ornamented Dionysus bags with snakes, bees and flowers and other unexpected embroideries. He also gave Gucci shoes a new twist. His slip-on black loafers with beige fake fur sticking out were also a huge hit. And the brand’s jackets and coats embroidered with the designer’s eclectic array of images became must-haves. Eventually, customers grew tired of Michele’s baroque designs and demanded something new. He left the brand in November last year.

Fendi is first and foremost a provider of handbags and fur coats. Those are the areas on which its legitimacy as a luxury brand is based. But on the fur front, Fendi is playing it quiet in response to the industry’s anti-fur movement. On its website, there is no longer a fur section and it’s impossible to find any of the brand’s latest fur models online. These are only sold in boutiques.

On the handbag front, business is not impressive either. Fendi’s best-sellers include the Baguette bag, an elongated tote designed by Venturini and launched in 1997. It became a sensation thanks to the TV series Sex and the City. Then there’s the Peekaboo line, a trapezoidal shaped handbag with a round handle, also designed by Venturini and launched in 2008. Since these two bags, there’s not been a major hard-hitting new line. What occupies most space in boutiques are reiterations with new materials such as sequins. Kim Jones introduced a new bag called the Fendi First with an oversized metal F clasp but it’s rather for soirées and special events. That may explain why it’s not been a huge commercial success.

FASHION GROUP

As part of LVMH’s current reorganization, Fendi is due to join LVMH’s Fashion Group together with Loro Piana. The Fashion Group includes Celine, Loewe, Givenchy and Kenzo among other brands. Louis Vuitton former CEO Michael Burke is expected to formally replace soon Sidney Toledano as CEO of that entity, as Miss Tweed wrote earlier this year. Part of Burke’s mission is to put Fendi firmly back on the growth track. Burke became CEO of Fendi in 2003 and led the brand for nine years. He was replaced by Pietro Beccari who helped the brand reach the psychologically important €1 billion mark in sales. Burke was present at the Fendi show in Milan last month. Afterwards, he spent quite a bit of time backstage talking with the brand’s current CEO Serge Brunschwig as well as with other executives and country managers.

Fendi is not doing that well in terms of sales growth, industry sources say, especially when compared with sister brands Celine, Loewe and Loro Piana. The Italian house is estimated to generate around €2.7 billion, making it LVMH’s third in terms of revenue behind Louis Vuitton and Dior.

“Some people in Asia think that Kim Jones has not really understood Fendi. His work does not really fit the brand’s DNA,” one senior industry source told Miss Tweed during Milan Fashion Week. When Fendi did its collaboration with Versace last year called Fendace, Versace’s personality came out much more strongly than that of Fendi, fashion critics said at the time. Versace’s gold, medusa and other traditional attributes dominated Fendi’s double FF monogram.

“Michael is good at managing creatives and setting up the right CEO-designer tandem,” one person close to LVMH said. “He will know what to do to sort out Fendi.”

If it does not do something to boost sales, Fendi’s No. 3 position at LVMH will soon be challenged by smaller but fast-growing brands within the Fashion Group division. Starting with Loro Piana, then Celine and Loewe. Loro Piana is on fire, benefiting from consumers’ penchant for quiet luxury, industry sources say. LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault announced earlier this year that Celine was generating more than €2 billion in revenue. Arnault believes that Loro Piana, Celine and Loewe all have the potential to double in size in the medium to longer term and reach €4-5 billion.

Reviving Fendi would be a great challenge for Michele. However, bringing back to life Walter Albini would be dream come true. Will it be the heart or the mind who decides?

Albini was known for working closely with Italian fabric and clothes manufacturers. He helped industrialize and democratize fashion and contributed to the emergence of what would become known as Italian ready-to-wear. In common with Albini, Michele’s baroque and eclectic universe is not only about clothes - it’s also about lifestyle and decoration. “Michele loves this project and is very excited by it,” one source close to Bidayat said. “Let’s see what he decides.” If Michele chooses Fendi, Bidayat will have to hire another designer to lead the project. It already has several names in mind.