Karl Lagerfeld designed for Fendi for fifty years and drew its double-F logo
Most people link Karl Lagerfeld with Chanel, but his longest partnership was with a Roman fur house. He joined Fendi in 1965, sketched its interlocking double-F logo the next year and was still there to celebrate fifty years together in 2015. By then the family shop had become one of the world's best-known luxury labels.
It began in 1925 with Adele and Edoardo Fendi, who opened a fur and leather shop on Via del Plebiscito in Rome. A second boutique followed in 1932 and became a favourite with tourists. In 1946 the couple's five daughters joined the business, each holding an equal fifth, and they steered its growth for decades.
Under the sisters and Lagerfeld, Fendi branched out steadily. It showed its first high fashion collection in 1966, targeting the United States and Japan, launched a commercial fur line in 1969 and ready-to-wear clothing in 1977. Perfume arrived in 1985, followed by eyewear, jeans and home furnishings, and a Fifth Avenue store in New York opened in 1989. The next generation made its own mark: Silvia Venturini Fendi, one of the founders' granddaughters, designed the Baguette handbag in 1997, which broke sales records, and later the similarly successful Peekaboo.
Family control ended in 1999, when Prada and LVMH jointly paid 545 million dollars for a majority stake, outbidding Gucci. The label lost money in its first years under new owners, and Prada sold its share to LVMH in 2002. A founding daughter, Carla Fendi, stayed on as chairwoman until 2008.
Fendi has a flair for spectacle. In 2007 it staged the first ever fashion show on the Great Wall of China, sending out 88 models, and it marked its 90th anniversary with a show at the Trevi Fountain. Since 2016 it has occupied Rome's monumental Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, which also houses its largest store.
Source: Fendi
