Though the very premise of fashion is reliant on transience – pieces that are “in” for a time are soon usurped by something new, relegating entire swags of garments to cringey photographs (or, if they’re lucky, to an archive, where they might resurface in years or decades to come in a stroke of retro vintage). But true style is something that’s not so cyclical, and as our values of sustainability and permanence become increasingly more important, the most stylish thing a designer can create today is something that will not only last forever, in terms of its durability, but also remain fashionable.
That can, of course, be said of Fendi’s ‘Icons’ – a range of permanently-available accessories, such as leathergoods, that aren’t switched out season to season. It’s Baguette bag, for example – those itsy-bitsy purses popularised by Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City of the late-1990s – was later expanded upon with the Baguette Trunk, which followed a similar form but with sharper proportions and the addition of sturdy hardware, as part of its men’s fall/winter 2020 collection. For the spring 2021 collection, the piece has been updated yet again in a form of acrylic plexiglass, diversifying the appeal of the bag whilst maintaining the essence of the original design. With its Mother-of-Pearl finish and leather trimmings, and available in a regular and miniature size (as well as an oak wood iteration) this accessory-as-sculpture (or sculpture-as-accessory) is a clever way of breathing new life into an iconic item and evidence of the design’s enduring appeal more than twenty years since its original outing.
The brand’s Peekaboo line, launched as part of the spring 2009 collection, is a little newer, though it too has experienced a few touch-ups in the decade since, such as with a men’s version of the Peekaboo ISeeU introduced in the latest collection. Here, it’s been updated with a detachable pocket, a twist lock in lieu of a hook closure, comprises a contrasting combination of leather front and Fendi-embossed fabric on the back, and comes in three sizes: mini, medium and tote-sized. Through these small but significant updates, Fendi continually adds to the desirability of its core product line whilst ensuring a level of exclusivity in refinements and evolutions seem poised to continue to be applied. Our eyes are already trained on what’s to come next.
