Fendi Spring 2009 Campaign Ad

Fendi is an Italian fashion house best known for its ‘Baguette’ handbags. It was launched in 1925 as a fur and leather shop in Rome, but today is a multinational luxury goods brand owned by LVMH. Karl Lagerfeld is the creative director.

In 1925, the house of Fendi is born with the establishment of the first handbag and fur workshop in Via del Plebiscito, Rome. The new Fendi business, led by the young couple Edoardo and Adele Fendi, immediately won great acclaim for the quality of its products. As the business grows, the fur workshops expand and between the 1930s and 40s, the Fendi name, already well known in Rome, becomes famous outside of the capital city.

In the years followed, Fendi's revolutions never stop. The five daughters of Edoardo and Adele kept bringing new energy and ideas. New products for the leather goods and fur lines developed and proposed . A few years later, The materials changed, and skins that had been forgotten or neglected are used in production once again. At this time the 'Double F' is designed and becomes an all-important feature. In 1969, Fendi handbags are transformed, offering new rules governing elegance and practicality, innovation and style. The answer to rigid handbags is the innovative creation of soft, unstructured bags. The leather is printed, woven, dyed and tanned to make it more soft and attractive and so begins the journey of a new generation of Fendi handbags. 

A few years later, the Selleria (Fendi Selleria Handbag), a line made entirely by hand, is rediscovered. Originally created by Adele Fendi, it is re-offered with the same culture and the same techniques. Handbags, travel bags and small leather goods are made from Cuoio Ffiore, hand-finished by master saddlers, in a limited edition series.

The creative director of the house, leads to the Fendi Baguette in 1997(Fendi Baguette Handbag). The success of the little bag to be carried under the arm, like the bread of the same name, is an immediate success. More than 600 versions, with different, unusual materials, quickly make it an essential accessory and a collector’s item. This becomes a real phenomenon that, in only a few seasons, transforms this bag into a cult object. In the wake of the Baguette, Silvia Fendi follows with the creation of the Spy bag phenomenon in 2005 and the B Fendi bag in 2006.

Currently, Fendi has over 160 boutiques in some 25 countries around the world.

Source: Fendi