Fendi bags have always caught the eye for their ability to surprise and reinvent themselves, but more than any other model, it is the playful Baguette and the timeless Peekaboo that have written the story of the Roman maison and have become fully-fledged cult icons. Behind them lies the deus ex machina of the Double F accessories.
“We presented the first Peekaboo in a 2009 collection. I really wanted to work on a bag that only the finest artisans would be able to make. It’s a modern version of a great classic. Over the years, we’ve made numerous different versions and sizes: we’ve made it small, vertical, horizontal, large, medium and wide. When you have your Peekaboo, you enjoy a certain security. For me, this bag says Fendi without the need for any logo. I think the Peekaboo truly goes beyond design. It’s a bag that I consider to be timeless. A bag that will be a part of our story forever,” declares Silvia Venturini Fendi, a member of the third generation of the fashion dynasty that was founded in 1925, when she tells the story of the birth of its second-born it-bag.
The Baguette, which owes its name to its rectangular shape, is intended to be carried under the arm like a French baguette because of its short shoulder strap. It earned consecration on the Olympus of fashion when Fendi launched it towards the end of the nineties. It was conclusively enshrined as an object of desire by Sarah Jessica Parker in the TV series Sex and the City.
On the other hand, the Peekaboo is marked by an unmistakable trapezoidal silhouette that makes it a logo in itself without any need to display one. It strikes a balance between tradition, experimentation and identity codes that encapsulate the essential DNA of the brand. Although they are polar opposites of each other, they have the common feature of both being born of a break, because they said something new that was not there at the time. And that is how they ignited the desire.
Silvia’s objective was to create a model with no frills – that is her style, after all – but with unexpected details that would give it a touch of verve. More than anything she wanted Peekaboo to be a true synthesis of the know-how of the finest craftsmanship, in part to reinforce people’s belief in Made in Italy and in the solid values it passes on over time.
From her experiments – and this is the right word because she grew up working at a test bench, breathing fashion from a very young age – a bag emerged with a design that was suitable for women, but not for women alone – in fact, it became unisex over the years – from the idea to the design, via a paper pattern and selection of the leather, followed by cutting and sewing by hand. Curiosity is the main ingredient of what inspires her, as is her capacity for wonder, as she tells it.
“Fashion has to be fun. The ironic, fun aspect has always been important for Fendi, as we have shown on many occasions. We like to play, to amuse and to surprise. One should never take oneself too seriously,” explains the creative director, who knows something about winning gambles on bags.
It is no accident that she translated the Italian game “cucù” into its English equivalent when small children hide their faces behind their hands and then show them as they say “peekaboo!” The same thing happens with the design of the bag, which is made with a twist lock on both sides. When it is open, the weight of the metal parts causes the extremely light nappa to drop, creating the iconic smile that reveals the inside. Meticulous on the outside, fun on the inside.
The Icons project tells the story of both bags, enhancing their value aside from their aesthetic aspect as two timeless pieces that cross-generational borders. For this reason, the shoot under the creative direction of Silvia Venturini Fendi and with styling by Charlotte Stockdale has an almost punk atmosphere, with models wearing only mesh outfits and Fendi bags. Because the message here is that the essentials are all you need: icons, as a matter of fact.
Edited by Laura Petracco