Getting to Know Fendi Style
The true Fendi style has always been about wear-ability. Best known for it's Baguette or under-the-arm women's handbag that took the fashion world by storm in 1997, the transformation and modernization of the House of Fendi, can be traced to the celebrity designer, Karl Lagerfeld and his entrance into the Fendi family, in 1965.
Leather and Fur
In 1925, Fendi was established as a handbag and fur workshop in Rome. The Fendi product was always highly coveted by the Italian elite, but in 1969, the German-born, Karl Lagerfeld took Fendi into the stratosphere of international fashion with his ready-to-wear collection, the first for Fendi. He had already designed the famous double-F logo for Fendi, but it was his handling of Fendi's leather and fur products that remain key to the Fendi style, even today. Lagerfeld reshaped the traditionally stiff and heavy, fur and leather styles into softer, lighter and more fabric-like, clothing.
The Handbag
Wear-ability also became a key component of Fendi's transformation of the traditional handbag. Rigid leather is once again shaped into soft, unstructured bags, immediately identifiable by Fendi's unique use of dyes and printing. Silvia Venturini Fendi ushered in the famous Baguette handbag, critical to the successful expansion of Fendi, into the 21st century. More than 600 versions of the Baguette exist. Designed with a multitude of unusual materials, the Baguette has become the iconic symbol of what makes the Fendi style, a collector's dream.
Sophistication and Luxury
Fendi's full line of clothing and accessories remain embedded in sophistication and luxury. The launch of the Fendi Casa Home Collection in 1989 proved to be a natural evolution and example of how Fendi's transformation of it's traditional materials, could be applied to the home. Who else but Fendi could re-imagine ivory, leather and fur, along with the famous double-F logo, into a line of custom upholstered furniture?
