MILAN- Milan picked up the autumn/winter 2022 catwalk baton on Wednesday, with designer Kim Jones revisiting Fendi archives as inspiration for new looks at the Italian luxury label's Fashion Week show.

The Feb. 23-28 event, which follows fashion weeks in New York and London, is hosting mainly in-person catwalk shows rather than digital presentations this season, including by heavyweights Prada, Versace, Giorgio Armani and Dolce & Gabbana.

At Fendi, part of luxury conglomerate LVMH, model Bella Hadid open the show in a pale pink chiffon slip dress, teamed with a cropped furry jacket and long green cashmere gloves.

Hers was the first of many soft chiffon designs in the collection, including see-through tops, trousers and jumpsuits, adorned with wavy frills or patterns and sometimes peeping out of tweed outfits.

Kim Jones, artistic director of Fendi couture and womenswear, said he looked into the archives after seeing jewellery designer Delfina Delettrez wearing her mother's old Memphis-print blouse.

Jones works alongside Delettrez's mother and the founding family's scion Silvia Venturini Fendi, who looks after menswear and accessories, at the Rome-based label.

He turned specifically to two collections designed by his predecessor, the late Karl Lagerfeld: Fendi's Spring/Summer 1986 and Autumn/Winter 2000 lines, reworking prints and styles.

"The best place to explore the Fendi archives is through the Fendi wardrobes," Jones said in shownotes. "And these are collections which, although they come from the past, feel very now."

Models wore checked trousers, high-waisted skirts and corset-like shirts. Jackets were cropped, trousers slim and belts were pocketed to carry phones.

"It's a wardrobe designed for every aspect of a woman's life, for every generation," Jones said. "And it all started with Delfina."

For accessories, Venturini Fendi marked 25 years of the brand's Baguette's bag by bringing back editions in cashmere, shearling-lined leather and intarsia mink.

(Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; editing by John Stonestreet) ((Marie-Louise.Gumuchian@thomsonreuters.com;))