100 Years of Fendi: the Brand's Full Story and Luxury Craftsmanship Journey

Keeping a brand alive for 100 years is no easy feat. Even more challenging is establishing its legacy as a dominant force in fashion. Fendi represents the quintessence of Made in Italy, authentic luxury, the bond with the roots. Retracing the history of the Roman brand, which has been part of the fashion and leather goods division of French conglomerate LVMH's portfolio since 2001, is a bit like bringing to light visions and projections, mastery of techniques and knowledge together with the charisma of Karl Lagerfeld, who in almost a century of history has contributed to enriching the collective concept of beauty.

From the Fendi monogram on bags and clothing that has become an obsession and passion for many, leather and fur remain the undisputed materials of the dialectic of the Roman brand. In such a delicate moment of change in the ethical and sustainable choices of many brands, Fendi is trying its hand at what will be the most difficult of all possible choices. How? Finding sustainable alternatives while remaining faithful to its aesthetic mission.

Read on for the brand's complete history and who contributed to its legacy.

Before meeting and marrying Edoardo Fendi, Adele Casagrande was already an entrepreneur. An independent woman in managing the leather and fur shop with an adjoining laboratory opened in 1918 in Via del Plebiscito in Rome. When Casagrande and Edoardo Fendi became husband and wife, the decision to change the name of the company was immediate and 1925 was the year in which the Fendi reality was definitively born.

If in 1926 and 1932 Fendi expanded with the new stores on Via Borgognona and Via Piave, while the exquisitely crafted products were already objects of desire for a refined Italian and European clientele, it was in 1947 that the acceleration of development and growth was triggered with the arrival of the five Fendi sisters in the management of the brand. And as good administrators, they divided the roles equally. Paola followed the processes of the fur segment with dyes and tanning; Franca was responsible for purchasing and director of the sales point on Via Borgognona; Carla was in charge of the sales office and the press office; Alda took care of the atelier and the fur laboratory; finally Anna managed the design and licensing office.

Fendi's definitive acceleration began with the arrival in 1965 of the German designer Karl Lagerfeld as Creative Director within an all-female business reality. The liaison between the sisters and Kaiser Karl will be one of the longest-lasting and most enduring fashion partnerships ever documented to date. 54 years full of experimentation, risk and innovation. It was he who created the double F logo in 1966, also known as Zucca, which means Fun Furs, fun fur. Initially used as a pattern for the internal lining of luggage, it is now an integral part of the external aesthetic of the entire brand. Over the years, Karl Lagerfeld has provided Fendi with something like more than 70,000 drawings. A true heritage of ideas and inspiration. But the big leap came in 1977, the year designated for the debut of the first ready-to-wear clothing collection, which shifted the interpretation of furs and outerwear from exclusive atelier products to usable and dynamic options for a much wider audience.

The theme of the logo will be crucial in the development and processing of the fine materials with which Fendi products are made. Weaves, inlays, reliefs and lasers are just some of the infinite processes used in the reproduction of the double F. A practice at the service of an increasingly fervent imagination that never disappoints expectations. On the occasion of the most recent relaunch of the new logo, the FF Reloaded event was organized, a secret party set up in the graffiti tunnel of the Lost Rivers, in Leake Street, in the heart of London's street art.

If Fendi has built its DNA with bags and suitcases of accurate and luxurious workmanship with the intent of making them remain in the wardrobe for a long time, the Selleria line born in the 30s demonstrates it, it is with the creation of “fashionable” models, in step with the times—more often the proponents of trends themselves—that put the Roman brand in the position of rewriting the very concept of it bag and that of fetish accessory. Silvia Venturini Fendi, Anna's daughter, is responsible for the creation in 1997 of the Fendi bag par excellence: Baguette. A soft rectangular-shaped case, a short handle designed to be worn on the shoulder and a bold buckle with the double F, it has become one of the cornerstones of the aesthetic grammar of the Roman Maison. For the Baguette bag, due to its similarity to the French habit of carrying bread under the arm on the way back from shopping, a waiting list was created and the title of the most desired it bag of the late 90s was coined. In 2012, the book Baguettemania published by Rizzoli celebrated its first 15 glorious years. The Fendi Baguette is an archetype, a canvas on which to rewrite a different story each time. Practically perfect.

After Baguette in 2008, the Fendi Peekaboo also debuts.

The essence of the Peekaboo bag is hidden in its name itself. Translation of the exclamation cu-cù in the classic game Hide and Seek, it alludes to a form of subtle, ironic but gradual seduction of its unveiling. The shape of the lady-like handbag is thus distorted by the unusual, fake accidental opening from which it is possible to cast a furtive glance at its precious content. Practically a treatise on meta-psychology. Other creations born from the vision of Silvia Venturini Fendi are the bags Spy, B Fendi and Silvana.

The wow effect is the fundamental ingredient that has always been present in the history of Fendi. Every single event, fashion show and celebration shaped by the Fendi universe deserves a separate analysis. Karl Lagerfeld's unstoppable creativity and vision certainly convinced and taught the team to always think big. For example, no bureaucratic obstacle deterred the Roman brand from presenting (with over a year of preparation) the fashion show on none other than the thousand-year-old stones of the Great Wall of China, one of the seven wonders of the world. 88 models, special guests and an 80-meter-long catwalk. In the Celestial Empire, 8 is considered the auspicious number par excellence because it contains two circles symbolizing luck. Legend has it that that night the fashion show was even visible from the Moon.

Drones also arrived over the years. On the occasion of the Fall/Winter 2014 collection Fendi chose to offer an alternative vision of the show through the drone cameras of the Air Force. In this way it was possible to share not only an original point of view to the audience connected online, but also to attempt a fusion between two levels of storytelling thanks to a creative use of increasingly advanced technologies of a recent past that today seems more distant. Another anthology event was the celebration program for the 90th anniversary of the brand. After having contributed to the restoration of the Trevi Fountain in 2013 thanks to the financing program Fendi for Fountains, the monument built by Nicola Savi on the facade of Palazzo Poli in 1732 (then inaugurated in 1762), in 2016 became the setting and catwalk of the celebratory show with the Haute Fourrure collection Legends and Fairy Tales. Between the dreamlike atmosphere and the transparent walkway immersed in the blue waters of the fountain we have certainly witnessed another moment of consecration of beauty.

Federico Fellini loved calling the five Roman sisters the “fendine." From Luchino Visconti to Wes Anderson, from Martin Scorsese to Giuseppe Tornatore, Fendi has collaborated, designed and supplied costumes for more than 50 films and TV series in a constant dialogue fueled by a shared passion for culture and human investigation. From Sorrentino’s The Young Pope to Ettore Scola’s Le Bal. Liliana Cavani’s The Berlin Affair to Michelangelo Antonioni’s Eros. Sumptuous furs and reworked outerwear were equally protagonists of these very important films. And here too there was no shortage of celebrations. In 2017, with Fendi Studios, the exhibition set up in the Palazzo della Civilità Umana in Eur, the maison’s headquarters since 2015, a revolutionary journey was staged to overturn the perspective of the relationship between fashion and cinema. Gwyneth Paltrow's mink as Margot Tenenbaum in Wes Anderson's film and Silvana Mangano's coat double in Family Grooming.

1925: Edoardo and Adele Fendi open their first boutique in Via del Plebiscito in Rome

1932: Selleria is born, a line of accessories completely hand-made in leather with the same technique used by the ancient Romans to make sandals and accessories. Each bag is engraved with a number to indicate the number of seams or stitches necessary to give life to each individual piece.

1946: the Fendi parents leave the reins of the company in the hands of their 5 daughters, Paola, Franca, Carla, Anna and Alda

1966: Karl Lagerfeld, already Creative Director for a year, invents the double F logo

1969: Fendi bags and accessories lines dedicated to a wider audience are born

1977: the first ready-to-wear clothing line debuts

1987: the second Fendissime line arrives, followed by Anna's daughters, Silvia and Ilaria, entrusted for a year to the young designer Giambattista Valli

1997: Silvia Venturini Fendi creates the Baguette bag from rectangular shape and short shoulder strap

2001 : Fendi enters the orbit of LVMH, a luxury group, and the following year acquires the majority of it

2005: the opening of Palazzo Fendi in the centre of Rome celebrates the first 80 years of history

2007: Fendi presents the autumn winter 07/08 collection with an 88-meter long catwalk set up along the Great Wall of China

2008: Silvia Venturini Fendi designs the Peekaboo bag

2016: for the 90th anniversary, the Haute Fourrure Legends and Fairy Tales fashion show was set up at the Trevi Fountain together with the Fendi Roma – The Artisans of Dreams exhibition at the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana all'Eur, also known as the Square Colosseum

2019: The Dawn Of Romanity fashion show at the Temple of Venus in front of the Colosseum, the third philanthropic chapter between the brand and the historical territorial heritage of the capital, pays homage to Karl Lagerfeld who passed away in 2019: 54 models for 54 looks in honor of the years of their fruitful collaboration.

2020: The women's collection is entrusted to Kim Jones , already a designer for Dior's men's collection. Accessories and men's line remain under the creativity of Silvia Venturini Fendi