In 1925, Adele Casagrande and Edoardo Fendi opened a small handbag boutique and fur workshop on Rome’s Via del Plebiscito. They created coats from unusual pelts (squirrel, Persian lamb) and introduced a collection of luggage and other leather goods implementing the Selleria method, which involved a topstitching technique inspired by the centuries-old hand embroidery of master saddlers. The pieces were soon coveted by Italy’s alta moda clientele, and Fendi became an international force after the founders’ five daughters, who had spent their childhood napping in the store, joined the family business and brought on a young Karl Lagerfeld as creative director in 1965.
But perhaps the house’s most recognisable design came in 1997, when Silvia Venturini Fendi, now the artistic director of menswear, had the idea for a bag that could be tucked under one’s arm like a loaf of French bread. The result was the Baguette: an oblong pochette with a short removable strap and a flap closure featuring an interlocking FF logo. Venturini Fendi decorated them with metallic paillettes, sorbet-hued rhinestones and white river pearls. Referred to as the world’s first It bag, it’s since been produced in over a thousand different styles.
Now, to mark its 100-year anniversary, the label is reinterpreting the Mamma Baguette, a slightly taller version of the 1997 design that’s meant to be worn over the shoulder. Some of the more intricate iterations of the bag, which is made from nappa leather and features the original Selleria stitching, can take up to 39 hours to finish. In addition to a couple of new elements — an equestrian-inspired drawstring closure and an FF buckle inlaid with leather — the Baguette also comes in
a fresh range of hues: sage, matcha green and, pictured here, salmon pink with
floral embroidery.
A look from Fendi’s autumn 1997 runway show, which marked the debut of the Baguette bag. Photograph courtesy of Fendi.
