The Italian luxury fashion house, Fendi, celebrated the 25th anniversary of the launch of the iconic Baguette bag this Friday at NYFW. The spirit of the baguette was seen in everything in the collection.
Tiny baguettes were seen on not just beanies and gloves and footwear accessories but also as pendants dangling from long necklaces. Baguettes were also part of the apparel.
The very first of the ‘It’ bags, the baguette, started its journey back in 1997 and was the creative brainchild of Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini Fendi. While Lagerfeld has been the Artistic Director of the house since 1965, Venturini Fendi is the granddaughter of the founding duo, Adele and Edoardo Fendi.
The small, compact silhouette of the bag with its single, broad, flap closure and just a short shoulder strap was an inspiration drawn from French women carrying a loaf of bread under their arms from local bakeries.
It was hence called a baguette, after the French baguette bread. This was first conceptualised and visualised by Venturini Fendi and Lagerfeld was credited with the FF logo, which was also turned into the metal clasp of the bag.
25 years ago, an iconic piece of art was crafted, and to mark this milestone, Kim Jones and Silvia Venturini Fendi, Artistic Directors of Couture and Womenswear and Menswear and Accessories respectively, join their creative energies with Tiffany & Co, Marc Jacobs, Porter, and Sarah Jessica Parker.
It was Sarah Jessica Parker’s popular character “Carrie Bradshaw” from Sex and the City that truly made the baguette the icon that it is today. Although the bag was discontinued and only brought back in 2019 after the revival of vintage fashion, celebrating its 25th anniversary in the city of New York was Fendi’s way of paying homage to the city where it all started.
Fendi X Tiffany & Co
It’s not every day that you get to see the Tiffany “Robin blue” on anything other than Tiffany, trademarked by the brand in 1998 and made only for external consumption in 2001. For the first time in the brand’s history, we will get to witness the iconic blue on a Fendi Baguette.
The brand was brought into the LVMH fold at the end of 2020 when the conglomerate acquired the brand for 16.2 billion USD. This is their first collaboration since and is set to be a revolutionary collaboration.
The Fendi x Tiffany baguette was launched at the NYFW and saw supermodel, Bella Hadid, walk the ramp clad head to toe in tiffany blue. She wore a satin jumpsuit with front zippers that opened to her navel, a head cap paired with a tiny baguette necklace, and the baguette bag held by her waist with her right hand. The look was completed with a pair of clogs that also sported the Tiffany blue.
Fendi X Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs and Kim Jones last worked together at Louis Vuitton, and Jones was also hired by Jacobs in 2011 as LV’s menswear creative director.
The Fendi x Marc Jacobs collection will hit the stores next month. The runway on Friday showcased utility jumpsuits and monogram tracksuits, reflecting Kim Jones’ appeal for streetwear and at the same time resonating with Marc Jacobs’ playfulness. Giant fur hats were seen throughout the collection and take us back to Marc Jacobs’ “pimp hats” from the Fall 2012 collection.
This capsule collection reimagines the baguette through the grit and glamour of New York and takes inspiration from Jacobs’ block letter font style of his eponymous “The Tote Bag.”
Fendi X Sarah Jessica Parker
The 25th anniversary of the baguette would have been incomplete without this collaboration. After all, “Oh, this isn’t a bag. It’s a baguette” was the iconic line that put the Fendi baguette on the map.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Fendi reimagined designs for the classic baguette silhouette. From embroidery in degraded sequins to hues of purple, wasabi, baby pink, or soft blue, the baguette was seen in a completely fresh look in this collaboration. And each of the products from this capsule had the memorable SOTC line inscribed inside them as an ode to the legendary Fendi bag.
Fendi X Porter
Porter, the Japanese brand also styled the baguette silhouette in their unique nylon craftsmanship. A luxury luggage brand, Porter is known for its hard-wearing bonded nylon products and artistic skills.
