One of the most significant fashion exhibitions of the season has opened in Rome, where Maria Grazia Chiuri revisits one of the most important creative partnerships in the world of luxury fashion. Fendi / Karl Lagerfeld 1985 is on view at GNAMC – Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea from July 9th to October 25th, 2026. After Steps Through Work, this exhibition revisits the groundbreaking show staged at the museum more than forty years ago, offering fresh insight into the creative alliance that reshaped Fendi.
FENDI and Karl Lagerfeld: four decades of creative dialogue revisited
Conceived by Maria Grazia Chiuri and curated by Maria Luisa Frisa, this exhibition celebrates the landmark 1985 retrospective that marked Karl Lagerfeld’s first twenty years at FENDI. The addition of the word ‘After’ signals both the passage of time and a contemporary perspective on one of the most influential collaborations in fashion.
Following Lagerfeld’s original exhibition design, the presentation explores the creation of haute couture, from initial sketches and technical experiments to finished garments. Thematic sections, including Tablets, Kaleidoscope, Design Matrices, Theatre, Sketches and Computer, reveal the creative process behind FENDI’s innovations in craftsmanship.
A rare look inside the FENDI atelier
A reconstructed Tablet Room forms the exhibition’s centrepiece, displaying fifty experimental panels documenting decades of research into tanning, dyeing, weaving, colouring, and material innovation. Roman landscapes, floral motifs, and geometric studies reveal craftsmanship as both technical practice and artistic expression.
The exhibition also features 180 original drawings, 22 paper patterns, seven toile prototypes, 25 fur creations, archival press material, and Histoire d’Eau (1977), directed by Jacques de Bascher. Archival interviews with Paola Fendi, Ida Panicelli, and Arturo Carlo Quintavalle provide further context for the original exhibition.
Maria Grazia Chiuri honours Karl Lagerfeld’s legacy
More than a historical reconstruction, the exhibition celebrates the extraordinary partnership between FENDI and Karl Lagerfeld, which began in 1965 and continued until his death in 2019. Over five decades, Lagerfeld redefined the Roman maison’s approach to couture and fur, turning traditional craftsmanship into a laboratory of material innovation.
Chiuri’s reinterpretation places that legacy in dialogue with the present, reaffirming fashion’s place within cultural history while celebrating Lagerfeld’s enduring influence on contemporary design.
Photography by GIORGIO BENNI
Courtesy of FENDI
