Humor isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Fendi. But a quick perusal of this season’s lookbook, in which the models prop themselves up on giant fur-covered blocks (themselves echoes of the fur-covered doodads that hang from the handles of some of the house’s bags), suggests that if nothing else, Silvia Fendi and Karl Lagerfeld don’t take themselves, or the brand, seriously all of the time. To be sure, there was astounding workmanship on display in the label’s pre-fall collection, specifically on a striped fur painstakingly constructed from small pieces of the fuzzy stuff not much bigger—no lie—than the o‘s in this sentence. And again on the pelts that were fused with knit, part techy, part craft. As for the humor, it could be subtle, as in one fur that looked faux, and another that looked like velvet. Or it could be loud: see the trio of shaved-shearling bombers in Crayola brights with bags and stiletto boots to match. Fendi’s practical side deserves a shout-out here, too. Pre-fall has shaped up to be a season of great outerwear, and the house delivered on its reputation in this regard. A shearling aviator looked great, as did the army-green parka with a deep fur hem.

JANUARY 28, 2013PARIS

By Nicole Phelps – style.com