Anatomy of a Classic: The Fendi Baguette
When Silvia Venturini Fendi debuted the Baguette in 1997, it quickly became an object of obsession for women with an eye for good design and an HBO subscription, and they snapped them up in colorful defiance of the minimalism that defined the era. True to the French staple that gave it its name, the Baguette’s premise was simple: a small purse that could be tucked perfectly under the arm. Fendi made it unmistakably Italian, infusing the style with a dash of sprezzatura and constantly evolving it with a kaleidoscope of colors, textures, and materials, from leather to embossed jacquard, denim to embroidery. Even feathers.
More than 25 years later the world’s first It bag hasn’t lost its luster. And Silvia Fendi’s imagination still runs wild. This fall, as part of the brand’s centennial, she is paying homage to its Roman roots with a special edition Baguette embroidered with a diptych of an ancient bust—La Testa Colossale di Divinità— that is displayed in the Galleria Borghese.
Each bag employs 100,000 microbeads that are hand-embroidered to create an effect of light and shadow, known as sfumato, to mimic the curves chiseled into the marble. Applying them requires more than 350 hours of craftsmanship. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so why should this be any different?
The black embroidered statue motif baguette is available now.
This story appears in the September 2024 issue of Town & Country, with the headline "Anatomy of a Classic". SUBSCRIBE NOW
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