For over 90 years, Fendi has been an internationally celebrated furrier and luxury goods fashion house lauded for their elegance, luxurious innovation and timeless quality production. The family owned house is particularly famous for their contributions to women’s fashion specialising in luxurious leather bags and fur coats. But fur was banned from the line a few years ago, a move many say was far too long in coming.
Adele Casagrande and her husband Edoardo Fendi founded their famous fashion house in 1925 as a furrier and leather goods label. Their first major success was with their Selleria and handcrafted artisan bags. The established house was then passed on to the next generation, the famous dynasty of Fendi daughters. Anna, Franca, Carla and Alda Fendi built up the label their parents had started into an international style powerhouse known for its timeless, high quality goods. This had birthed an era for Fendi that was defined by a wonderfully feminine and elegant aesthetic.
The famous Fendi daughter dynasty marked the first major leadership shift away from the house’s roosts, with the sisters fostering a young Karl Lagerfeld and introducing a fur aesthetic that has internationally influenced fashion. Significantly, Lagerfeld often works closely with Anna’s daughter and creative director, Silvia Venturini Fendi.
The relationship between Lagerfeld and the Fendi family had since been an established and long-standing one, becoming the longest collaboration in fashion history. In 1966, as an emerging designer, Karl Lagerfeld adopted the role of Fendi Creative Director. His input transformed the label, from his introduction of the iconic double F logo to embracing fur as a creative textile - a process that had infamously sparked worldwide controversy from both animal rights parties and within the fashion industry alike. Lagerfeld’s endorsement has continued into the label’s contemporary output, as he collaborates with the current generation of Fendis.
Despite the family directing the brand, French luxury goods group LVMH currently owns Fendi. Before Carla passed away last year, she ran press and communications, while the other four sisters are all still involved in the running of the brand today. Paola being responsible for the entire fur department, Anna directing Fendi’s creative design department, Franca orchestrating retail stores in Rome and finally, Alda who remains a vocal member of Fendi’s board of directors.
Now that we’re almost hitting the 100-year mark since the iconic brand’s establishment, Fendi is yet to show its age, refusing to back down from major creative challenges. In 2007, Fendi saw months of meticulous planning that accumulated to walking 89 models down a runway visible from the moon, the Great Wall of China. Fendi’s Spring/Summer 2008 campaign was a significant and highly acclaimed campaign that stands today as Fashion Industry Broadcast’s favourite Fendi moment.