Carrying a Legend

The compact carry-all that grew into a pop-culture and fashion icon—the Fendi Baguette—just turned 25. Here’s how the House of Fendi is celebrating its extraordinary legacy.

Text by Lindsey Kesel
Images courtesy of Fendi

The Baguette—that short-handled, sexy bundle of a mini bag, that archetype of style with the power to enchant any ensemble—was crafted into existence in 1997 by Silvia Venturini Fendi. Today, as Artistic Director of Accessories and Menswear, Silvia Venturini Fendi reflects on the fateful moment the bag was born: “It was a special day when I designed this bag; the stars aligned. The horoscope said it was a Fendi day.”

In summer of 2000, the Baguette’s popularity hit an apex with a clever cameo in Season 3, Episode 17 of Sex and the City, crystallizing the accessory’s reign as the “It Bag” and a mystic token of Manhattan chic. Lost in the New York City streetscape, Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw encounters an armed mugger, who demands she hand over her Manolo Blahniks and her bag—to which she abruptly replies, “This isn’t a bag, it’s a Baguette.”

With the Fendi Baguette hitting the quarter century mark in 2022, the House is honoring the roots and wings of this iconic accoutrement through its 25th Anniversary Baguette Collections. Released in November 2022, 25 Baguette Re-Editions offer reinterpreted cult styles unearthed from the archive. In 2023, Baguette-centric collaborations with Sarah Jessica Parker, Porter, and Tiffany & Co., Marc Jacobs—and new designs from Fendi—complete the tribute. “I didn’t want to do a traditional ‘collection’ for the anniversary,” says Kim Jones, Artistic Director of Womenswear. “Rather it’s a celebration of a time, of the moment the Baguette became famous. I relate that time to a sense of freedom in excess and fun—both qualities the Baguette possesses.”

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Original Baguette styles—such as Aluminum Tone Sequin, Dark Red Satin, and Multicolor Mink—are reinvigorated via design twists that embody Fendi craftsmanship, artfully paired with a delicious mélange of materials. If you happened to sleep on the Geometric Bead Embroidery Baguette from the Fendi Spring/Summer 2013 collection, it’s back with a vengeance: Baguette 6 in the series channels the spirit of a couture dress, featuring 104,500 multicolor beads set in an abstract geometric motif.

Concealing an inscription of the cheeky Carrie Bradshaw line within, the Sarah Jessica Parker x Fendi capsule Baguettes are as bold and unapologetic as the character. Fantastically embroidered in degradé sequins with a palette of purple, wasabi, baby pink, or soft blue, the Baguettes feature four interchangeable buckles to suit the wearer’s mood.

Known for their hard-wearing bonded nylon— that nevertheless exudes beauty and luxury—together with precision Japanese craftsmanship, the Porter collection emphasizes lightness and functionality. It is also a proponent of one of the bag’s latest incarnations: the Bum Baguette

Tiffany & Co. x Fendi unveils an unprecedented Baguette made entirely of stippled sterling silver crafted by hand over a period of four months by the Tiffany artisans, the bag is engraved with lilies and roses—the national flower of Italy and New York State, respectively. Finally, Kim Jones and Silvia Venturini Fendi at Fendi present a new Baguette iteration to celebrate the milestone in style, masterfully weaving a sense of hyper-luxe and glossy glamour beyond the full collections.

Embodying the rough-cut romance between uptown and downtown, luxury and utility, excess and reality, the Baguette and the clothing and accessories it inspires are at once defined as a moment in history and part of a continuum with today.

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Shop the Baguette 25th Anniversary Collections in Fendi boutiques and through client services. Visit their Honolulu locations at Ala Moana Center and Royal Hawaiian Center.