Fendi was at this time working hard to meet the demands of an international market and worked especially hard to get more attention from the American trade. Their strenuous work soon bore fruit and Fendi's popularity grew among the Americans. Fendi presented their second ready to wear fur collection in 1977. It became an instant success, mainly due to the fact that it was developed to complement a woman’s fashion image. Fendi furs became a synonym to high quality and a distinct look. The success of the ready to wear fur collections started a new chapter of expansion in the history of Fendi and the 80s became a time of expansion for Fendi into new business areas.
In 1984, Fendi decide to branch out and started selling a number of new products with the Fendi brand. The new products included everything from jeans to sunglasses, pens and lighters. They continued their expansion into new areas in 1985 when they introduced the first Fendi female fragrance. Males would have to wait a few more years in the history of Fendi until 1989 when the first male fragrance was introduced. That same year the national gallery of art in Rome held a special exhibition of the fashion created by Fendi in 1985. The exhibition was also a way for Fendi to celebrate their 60 year anniversary and the history of Fendi.
The expansion into new areas slowed down after the introduction of the first Fendi fragrance in 1985, but Fendi soon starts exploring new areas again when they in 1987 begin to target a younger clientele by selling sportswear and sports accessories as a part of the Fendissime line. The Fendissime line is the product of the work of the third generation of Fendi which ones again shows how a new generation of Fendi children came along and tried to revitalize the still strong Fendi lines. This is something that can be seen several times in the history of Fendi. The third Fendi generation consists of the 6 sons and 3 daughters of the Fendi sisters who all are working in the Fendi Corporation.
Fendi was at this time enjoying immense international success and as a result of this they opened a huge 22,000 square feet Fendi store on Fifth Avenue in New York 1989. This store was to be only the first such Fendi store. The following year Fendi introduces their menswear collection Uomo which was a product line of clothes and accessories designed to have item for any situations. The year 1990 was largely a time for reorganisations in Fendi to make the organisation and logistics more effective after the rapid expansion during the 1980s. One example of the reorganisation was the gathering of all their offices, production facilities etc in Rome in one place instead of having them located in different parts of the city. They also made administrative reorganizations of the company and made the third generation of Fendi children part of the head of the company. Finally, a new chapter in the history of Fendi was written in 1999 when the Fendi sisters sold 51% of Fendi to Vuitton and Prada. Prada later sold its share of the company to Vuitton in 2001, which meant that Vuitton gained control over Fendi. The only of the five Fendi sisters to still be involved in the company is Carla Fendi.
