Fendi stands for Italian craftsmanship, elegant designs and fashionable innovations. Today's luxury label has its origins in Adele Casagrande's boutique for furs and leather goods in Rome, which opened in 1918. The exquisite style of the Fendi collections was influenced above all by the designer Karl Lagerfeld, who died in 2019 and was hired by the sisters in 1965 as designer of the women's collection. The characteristic FF logo is then, as now, the sign of quality at the highest level in the fashion world.
When Adele Casagrande opened her shop for furs and leather goods, which were in great demand at the time, she certainly did not yet realise that she and her husband Edoardo Fendi would soon be running a fashion empire - although the signs were already good with the opening of a second boutique on the Via Piave in Rome in 1932. As early as 1955, the couple presented their exclusive fur and leather goods creations at a fashion show, which met with great approval.
Adele Casagrande and Edoardo Fendi were a well-rehearsed team not only professionally. Their private happiness also remained constant and gave them five daughters, who all joined the company after the Second World War. In 1964, each of the Fendi sisters inherited a share of 20% and took over a separate division in the company. However, the sisters made their absolute breakthrough in 1965 when they hired the fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, who remained head designer of Fendi's women's collection until 2019. Fendi's famous "FF" also originated from the designer's pen.
Karl Lagerfeld designed his first fur collection called "Haute Fourrure" (high fur art) in 1969. The unique pieces were partly unaffordable and so in the same year a ready-to-wear collection for fur fashion was launched. The assortment of the following years was completed with accessories, bags, jewellery and perfume. Fendi set another milestone with the creation of the Paquin pattern. The dark brown and golden brown longitudinal stripes still characterise various Fendi pieces today.
At the end of the 1980s, the upheaval came as fur came under increasing criticism and sales declined. The Fendi sisters intervened and provided for a restructuring. A youthful second collection for women was launched and a traditional leather goods collection was revised. The salvation came in 1999 with Silvia Fendi's idea of the "Baguette Handbag", which achieved world fame when fashion icon Sarah Jessica Parker wore it in the cult series "Sex and the City". Even the successors, such as the "Spy Bag", the "B Fendi Bag" and the "Peekaboo", are now an integral part of the fashion world. Also popular are Fendi's removable, colourful "Strap You" shoulder straps and the Karlito Fendi Monster - the extravagant jewellery pendant for Fendi bags.
Since 1999 Fendi belongs to LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy). Under new management, numerous investments have been made and the Fendi brand has been brought into the modern era in a modern guise. Today, the sale of leather goods accounts for the largest share. Fendi worked together with Karl Lagerfeld for 50 years. Two ready-to-wear collections for men and women and the well-known haute couture collections were created annually. Since the fashion pioneer passed away in 2019, Fendi has been looking for a new chief designer. Silvia Fendi has taken over the position as a temporary replacement.
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