Fendi is an Italian fashion house best known for its "baguette" handbags. It was launched in 1925 as a fur and leather shop in Rome, but today is a multinational luxury goods brand owned by LVMH. Karl Lagerfeld is the creative director.

History

Fendi originated in 1918 when Adele Casagrande opened a leather and fur shop in Via del Plebiscito in central Rome. When Adele married Edoardo Fendi in 1925, they made a decision to change the name to Fendi. The business prospered, and a new shop was opened in Via Piave in 1932. By 1946, Paola, the eldest of the couple's five daughters, went to work for the firm at age 15, followed by her sisters Carla, Anna, Franca, and Alda. In time, each of the daughters inherited 20% of the company.

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 could not find the fabric clothes they wanted to show under the furs their ready-to-wear line was born, again to great success. In 1999 the sisters sold out to LVMH and Prada for an estimated US$850m, trumping a bid from Gucci of a rumoured US$700m. LVMH have since bought out Prada and are investing heavily in the brand, expanding the network of boutiques to 117 as of 2005.

On October 19, 2007, the world was blown away with Fendi's fashion show on the Great Wall. Showcasing Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini's latest fashions and specially designed outfits for the Great Wall event, 88 models from Asia and across the world descended down a catwalk of more than 85 meters and showcased eastern and western looks from Fendi's Spring / Summer '08 collection to more than 500 guests, media and VIPS – including Thandie Newton, Kate Bosworth and Zhang Ziyi.

The Double F Symbol

Counterfeiting

In June 2006, Wal-Mart was accused of selling fakes in its membership-only Sam's Club stores. The suit filed by Fendi in June 2006 against Wal-Mart was settled in June 2007 when Walmart agreed to pay Fendi an undisclosed sum in exchange for Fendi's dismissal of the case.

Fendissime

This "young" line (akin to Prada's Miu Miu line) was formed by Karl Lagerfeld in 1962 in cooperation with input from the five daughters.

Fendi Casa

Fendi's newest brand offering a wide variety of home furnishings. Furniture, sofas, armchairs, poufs, chaise-longues, consoles, day-beds: items of everyday life seen, interpreted, and lived with the typical Fendi style and culture. Above all this there is one common denominator: the home seen once more as the heart of a lifestyle, small pieces of furniture acting as a support for the most immediate and practical needs and more significant pieces to be personalised according to the taste. Great attention is paid to the past while tending towards the future, with considerable concern for evolution in modern design, which is interpreted, enjoyed and shared in the spirit of today's culture. And so we find objects for the home distinguished first of all – as is the entire creation of Fendi - for their fine quality: great care and attention in the choice of fabrics and their combinations, and in the 'mix' of materials which creates new forms. All this together with the craftsmanship and attention to detail, the careful working and hand finishing, the personality which is an integral part of Fendi style. And last but not least, that creativity and imaginativeness which come from research and experiment, a mood which extends from fashion to design through the creation of personalised and personalising objects.