Fendi/Fendissime

It all started in 1925, when Edoardo and Adele Fendi opened a small leather and fur store with its own workshop in Via del Plebiscito in the center of Rome. The business prospered, and a new shop was opened in Via Piave in 1932. By 1946 Paola, 15, the eldest of the couple's five daughters, went to work for the firm, followed by her sisters Carla, Anna, Franca, and Alda.

The next big step for the family was taking over a movie theater on Via Borgognona that was about to be torn down. Adele Fendi, already an urban preservationist, protested to the owner, who promptly answered: "Why don't you buy it, Signora Fendi?" She did, the Fendi flagship store was born, and today there are five Fendi shops (leather goods, fur, shoes, luggage, ready-to-wear) on Via Borgognona alone. Anna Fendi is president of the Via Borgognona Association.

In 1965 a marriage made in heaven, that between the Fendis and German designer Karl Lagerfeld, was sealed, and it proved to be fortuitous for both. Lagerfeld immediately created the inverted FF logo that joined the growing list of international status symbols, and then set about, aided and abetted by the sisters, to revolutionize the treatment of fur.

What had once been a precious but stiff and heavy garment was transformed into a light, soft, easy-to-wear and above all flattering outfit. The team went on to invent new ways of working with fur, tanning, dying, and treating, and took previously unused skins and turned them into fashionable garments.

By 1966 Fendi had presented its first couture fur collection, designed by Lagerfeld. It was an immediate success with foreign buyers. Marvin Traub, president of Bloomingdale's, discovered Fendi's leather goods and introduced them to the United States. Other outlets soon followed, and today Fendi has a large store on New York's Fifth Avenue, as well as numerous Fendi boutiques around the world.

In 1969 Fendi presented its first ready-to-wear fur collection at Palazzo Pitti in Florence, bringing continuously evolving techniques and imaginative designs to lower-priced furs without sacrificing quality. When the sisters couldn't find the fabric clothes they wanted to show under the furs their ready-to-wear line was born, again to great success. It wasn't long before the "young" Fendissime line was born, followed by perfume and other licenses.

Vuitton and Prada bought 51 percent of the company in November, 1999, from the sisters. In 2001 Prada ceded its share to Vuitton. Carla Fendi is the only sister involved with Fendi, and Silvia Venturini (Anna's daughter) is creative director of men's fashions as well as accessories for men and women. Karl Lagerfeld continues to design the fur and women's collections.

Fendissime

Maria Teresa, Federica and Maria Ilaria Fendi are the third generation of Fendis to continue working in the family tradition, but with their very own label, "Fendissime." Maria Teresa and Ilaria are daughters of Anna Fendi, while Federica is Franca's daughter. The cousins grew up in the business and absorbed the family traditions which include hard work, an almost obsessive attention to detail and innovation, and a very close relationship with the Fendi customers of all ages. In all areas, whether it be furs, accessories, or ready-to-wear, the Fendis have always been responsive to new ideas and trends while maintaing their reputation for the highest quality and taste.

Both Maria Teresa and Federica put in several years of apprenticeship and gained valuable expperience working in department stores such as Bergdorf Goodman and Bloomingdales (in the U.S.), Brown's (in the U.K.) and AOI Company Ltd. (in Japan).

Maria Ilaria, after her studies at the European Institute of Design spent two years in Paris working as an intern for Chanel following the ready-to wear and high fashion collctions. She then joined the family business and was put in charge of the planning behind all the Fendi lines.

Maria Teresa, who has also worked in the entertainment sector as a costume designer for the theatre, cinema and opera, is sensitive to cultural influences from which the Fendissime lines draw their inspiration. She is therefore in charge of communications and devotes herself to promoting the company's image in new and innovative ways. Federica, the more pragmatic of the three, is in charge of planning and coordinating all the collections: from clothes to accessories. Maria Ilaria, the youngest, is quick to bring in customers' new suggestions and transforms needs into products. She is responsible for the design of all the lines.

Fendissime is present in New York and Tokyo (there are also 30 sales outlets in Japan) and of course on the new Roman "Rive Gauche" or "Left Bank" which was born on the left hand side of Via del Corso, the wide street that bisects the downtown shopping area, and follows an itinerary which goes from Via Fontanella Borghese to Via del Governo Vecchio just behind Piazza Navona.

The Fendissime shop has the atmosphere of a large comfortable "salon" where the product occupies the space "naturally": the ready-to-wear garments, the accessories, the shoes are all items that relate to life in the city, for sport and to relax. Maria Teresa, Federica and Maria Ilaria's passion for fashion has brought them to achieve this most satusfying result. Their years of working together and continuing the family tradition in thier very own personal and autonomous way, paying careful attention to research into style, production, distribution and a special care to prices has paid off with impressive results...

And they still want to do more... Fendissime at Via Fontanella Borghese wants to become an international meeting point with a rest area where one can stop to read newspapers and foreign magazines, drink a cup of tea or coffee, write a letter or see an exhibition.