First of Its Kind, Last of Its Kind tells the story of an exceptional accessory and the archival piece that inspired it.
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 recognizable design came in 1997, when Silvia Venturini Fendi, now the artistic director of men’s wear, 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.
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