Page 2 of Fendi Handbags
History of Fendi Handbags
Fendi handbags may be on every fashion-savvy girl’s Christmas list this year, and although these are the luxe brand’s best selling products (grossing 58% of Fendi’s total sales in 2004), many don’t realize that the Italian fashion house’s humble beginnings were in furs. It all started in 1918, when a woman named Adele Casagrande opened her first fur and leather shop in Rome on the Via del Plebiscito. In 1925, she met Edoardo Fendi and married him, changing the name of her growing trade to the famous brand we all know today. In 1932, the expansion of the business led to the opening of a new shop on the Via Piave. In the years that followed, Fendi continued to grow as a name in furs and leather, and by the late 1940’s Adele’s five daughters, Paola, Carla, Anna, Franca and Alda had all joined the family company.
1965 was a momentous year for the Fendi name, as this was the year the fashion house brought the talents of the young (then unknown) German designer Karl Lagerfeld together with Fendi’s vision for timeless quality. Lagerfeld proved to be the breath of fresh air needed to revitalize the company, creating a radical new approach to furs. And so, with the help of the Fendi team, furs that were once rigid and uncomfortable were magically transformed into feathery soft garments, all of which were highly wearable and undeniably stylish.
Together with the Fendi sisters, Lagerfeld also came up with the unforgettable inverted double F logo, the monogram that literally stamped Fendi’s name on the world of high fashion. In 1966, Lagerfeld presented his first Fendi coture fur collection to rave reviews, followed in 1969 by an even more successful “prêt-a-porter” or ready-to-wear fur collection in Florence, which finally caught the attention of the world. Soon after this, Fendi boutiques in the United States opened their doors, and other fashion capitals around the globe eagerly followed suit.
