To celebrate one of the most iconic handbags in the world, Fendi recently unveiled the FENDI Baguette 25th Anniversary collection. A celebration of one of the Italian Maison’s most recognizable designs, the collection celebrates the history of the Baguette while looking towards the future. The collection features an array of beautiful Baguettes by a curated selection of designers. Fendi tapped Kim Jones, the Maison’s Womenswear Artistic Director, and Silvia Venturini Fendi, who created the bag in 1997, along with Marc Jacobs, Tiffany & Co., Sarah Jessica Parker, and luxe Japanese luggage brand Porter to design their own iterations of the Baguette.
“It was a special day when I designed this bag; the parts aligned. The horoscope said it was a Fendi day.” – Silvia Venturini Fendi, Artistic Director of Accessories and Menswear, Fendi
“I didn’t want to do a traditional ‘collection’ for the anniversary. Rather it’s a celebration of a time, of the moment the Baguette became famous. I relate that time to a sense of freedom in excess and fun – both qualities the Baguette possesses.” – Kim Jones, Artistic Director of Womenswear, Fendi
Taking inspiration from the bag itself, the collection and the accompanying clothing are the perfect mix of the uptown and downtown, luxury and utility, and of excess and restrained elegance. The designs by FENDI play with the nothing of utility and luxury. Multi-pocketed pieces appear throughout both as garments and Baguettes and are infused with glamour. Fabrications like silk satin, mink, and luxe leathers are adorned with sequins and crystals.
“I’ve got one word: Fendiroma. And it is one word! It is another land, this Fendiroma…
And I’ve got two words: The Baguette. It’s a bag – and I am never one to shy away from an iconic bag.” – Marc Jacobs, Creative Director and Founder, Marc Jacobs
Jacobs looks to both the grit and the glamour of New York City for his contribution to the collection. Drawing inspiration from items ubiquitous as a workman’s vest and glass frontages, there are shocks of fluorescent yellow alongside the glitter of silver and rhinestones. For the Baguette itself, it is presented as elongated and with multiple mini versions of itself attached.
“It’s not a bag, it’s a Baguette” – Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City
With that simple sentence, the Baguette was launched into pop culture stardom and cemented its status as an It Bag. This moment in television history is so intrinsically linked to the Baguette so it only seems fitting that Sarah Jessica Parker would create a capsule of designs alongside Silvia Venturini Fendi. Embroidered in degradé sequins in a palette of purple, wasabi, baby pink or soft. They feature interchangeable buckles that allow the wearer to indulge their sartorial mood.
A delightful foil to the exuberant femininity of the many of the pieces, the Baguettes by Porter have a decidedly masculine bent. Featuring the precise craftsmanship and functionality the luxury Japanese brand is know for, this is the Baguette’s latest incarnation: the Bum Baguette.
The final addition to the spectacular FENDI Baguette 25th Anniversary collection is from the world famous Tiffany & Co. ‘Fendi at Tiffany’s’ might be the name for the meeting of these two grand edifices. Here, the storied New York institution takes on the Baguette and reimagines it in its most precious of forms, through its use of sterling silver, enamel, croco, white gold and diamonds. The T and the F complement each other in logo white gold fastenings, encrusted in diamonds while shining crocodile takes on the hue of Tiffany Blue – a colour which also irresistibly permeates the Fendi clothing palette. Perhaps most startling of all is an unprecedented Baguette made entirely of stippled sterling silver. Crafted by hand over a period of four months by the Tiffany artisans, the bag is engraved with lilies and roses – the national flower of Italy and New York State, respectively. It is also the first of Fendi’s ‘Hand in Hand’ partnerships to come from outside Italy and is a measure of Tiffany & Co’s superlative craftsmanship.
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