rare FENDI Karl Lagerfeld Karlito fox fur green hair leather bag bug charm
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Hong Kong, HK
- Reference Number:
Fendi
Like other major European luxury fashion houses, Fendi started small. Adele Casagrande was an Italian creative who loved fashion and sold leather and fur accessories from a tiny workshop she opened in Rome in 1918. However, after marrying Edoardo Fendi in 1925, her business model was altered dramatically. Together, the couple changed the boutique’s name to Fendi and moved into a bigger storefront, which quickly became the favorite shop of women all over Italy’s capital city for furs and leathers, such as handbags, coats and accessories.
As time moved on for Adele and Edoardo, the couple began to share more responsibility to their five daughters, who assumed management of the company during the 1950s. Fendi’s audience broadened and its profitability has soared over the years, owing to the brand’s fresh perspective on fashion world happenings and innovative sensibility. The maison also has a distinctive relationship with old-world Italian craftsmanship. The Selleria bags were the work of master saddlers in Rome, and Fendi partnered with lace artisans in southern Italy as well as craftsmen in the east trained in the intrecciato (intertwined) technique (an idea that Adele introduced during the 1940s), which, in Fendi’s case, sees an interwoven leather fabric integrated in the creation of its handbags, countering leather’s traditional rigidity with a bag that is soft, versatile and fitted with an alluring slouchy curve.
It wasn’t until 1965, however, when a young German designer named Karl Lagerfeld took the creative helm that Fendi became a world-renowned fashion house. In fact, Lagerfeld, who produced four to five collections yearly for the brand, is credited with creating Fendi’s instantly recognizable double-F logo (which stands for “Fun Furs”) in “less than five seconds.” Until Lagerfeld started designing for the brand, fur was a material mostly associated with heavy coats that few people actually wore. Lagerfeld reimagined fur in creative ways, using it as an accent on purses, cuffs on dress sleeves and collars on wool coats.
Over the ensuing years, Fendi has broken into the home-goods market with Fendi Casa and has become synonymous with luxury fashion, producing such pieces as the iconic Baguette, which was rendered ever popular on the television series Sex and the City. In fact, an entire episode during the third season was dedicated to the “original It bag,” a slim accessory tapered in a manner that recalls its namesake, designed in 1997 by Adele and Edoardo’s granddaughter Silvia Venturini Fendi, who was named creative director of accessories three years earlier.
Perhaps just as well known as its vintage Baguette handbags and creative use of fur is the brand’s devotion to its Italian roots. In 2013, Fendi donated more than 2 million euros to restore Rome’s Trevi Fountain, and when it was reopened to visitors, Fendi hosted its Autumn/Winter 2017 show on top of the landmark.
Fendi was a family-controlled brand until 1999 and is now owned by LVMH. In late 2020, British fashion designer Kim Jones was named the house’s artistic director for womens wear.
Find a wide variety of vintage Fendi handbags and purses, clothing and other accessories on 1stDibs.
Karl Lagerfeld
More than a mere tastemaker, Karl Lagerfeld devoted himself to the continual pursuit of chic. “My life and my job,” the designer once said, “is to forget myself.” During his five-decade career designing shoes, handbags, evening dresses and other items for Chanel, Fendi, Chloé and many others, Lagerfeld was a quintessential chameleon, ever evolving to embody the times.
An outsize, instantly recognizable personality — his ponytail powdered like an 18th-century viscount, his eyes perpetually shielded by dark glasses, wearing fistfuls of chunky silver jewels — Lagerfeld was, above all, an avatar of style.
Born in Hamburg (in 1933, ’35, or ’38 by varying accounts), Karl Lagerfeld packed his bags for Paris in 1954. His design for a coat won him the International Wool Secretariat and landed him a job with the celebrated couturier Pierre Balmain. He went on to become the designer of Jean Patou, eventually realizing that his seemingly endless ideas could fuel a career as a designer-for-hire. As such, Lagerfeld lent his vision to everyone from Loewe and Max Mara to Krizia and Charles Jourdan, nimbly moving among a diverse range of styles. It was an unprecedented way of working in the days when freelance was still a dirty word. During the late ’60s and ’70s, he refashioned Chloé to reflect the free spirit of the day and, beginning in 1965, joined forces with the Fendi family, taking it from sleepy furrier to fashion’s haute-est stratum.
Because of his track record for reviving and reimagining brands that had grown stagnant, in 1984 Lagerfeld was handed the reins at Chanel, which had been gathering dust since its founder’s heyday. From his first collection, Lagerfeld injected the venerable house with a frisson of modernity. He riffed on its iconography — tweed skirt suits, pearls, camellias — accenting a lexicon of Chanel-isms with tastes of the moment. Despite producing eight collections a year for Chanel, as well as four to five for Fendi, Lagerfeld never faltered in proposing new ideas each time he put pencil to paper.
Lagerfeld’s collections for Chanel, in particular, displayed his knack for synthesizing old and new, high and low. From Watteau (Spring/Summer 1985 couture) and Serge Roche (Spring/Summer 1990 ready-to-wear) to hip-hop fly girls (Fall/Winter 1991 ready-to-wear), surfers (Spring/Summer 2003 ready-to-wear) and ancient Egypt (Pre-Fall 2019), Lagerfeld used each season’s inspiration to conceive Chanel’s signatures anew.
Browse a collection of sophisticated designs by Karl Lagerfeld on 1stDibs, including evening gowns for Chanel, vintage cocktail dresses for Chloé and more.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Sha Tin, Hong Kong
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- new VERSACE black saffiano leather gold logo V stitch continental long walletBy VersaceLocated in Hong Kong, NTnew VERSACE black saffiano leather gold logo V stitch continental long wallet Reference: TGAS/B01476 Brand: Versace Designer: Donatella Versace Material: Leather Color: Black P...Category
2010s Wallets
- BOTTEGA VENETA grey genuine alligator leather bi-fold portfolio walletBy Bottega VenetaLocated in Hong Kong, NTBOTTEGA VENETA grey genuine alligator leather bi-fold portfolio wallet Reference: KELE/A00013 Brand: Bottega Veneta Material: Leather Color: Grey Pattern: Solid Closure: Bi-fol...Category
2010s Wallets
- rare CHANEL 2016 black white logo scallop antique silver CC buckle luggage strapBy ChanelLocated in Hong Kong, NTrare CHANEL 2016 black white logo scallop antique silver CC buckle luggage strap Reference: MELK/A00166 Brand: Chanel Material: Nylon Color: Black ...Category
2010s Tech Accessories and Cases
- PRADA black sheep fur bolt hardware hand monster robot charm key ringBy Miuccia Prada, PradaLocated in Hong Kong, NTPRADA black sheep fur bolt hardware hand monster robot charm key ring Reference: TGAS/C01538 Brand: Prada Designer: Miuccia Prada Material: Fur, Metal Co...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pouches and Wristlets
- new GUCCI 570660 Zumi black leather GG Horsebit bi-fold wallet on chain nano bagBy GucciLocated in Hong Kong, NTnew GUCCI 570660 Zumi black leather GG Horsebit bi-fold wallet on chain nano bag Reference: TGAS/B02161 Brand: Gucci Designer: Alessandro Michele Collection: Zumi Material: Leather Color: Black Pattern: Solid Closure: Button Extra Detail: 570660 Zumi Collection. 2067 Fabric Code. Grained pebble leather. Mixed gold and silver tone GG Horsebit hardware detail. Detachable short gold-tone chain. Bi-fold wallet that can be used as a nano bag on chain...Category
2010s Italian Wallets
- CHANEL 1990's Vintage silver nylon logo strap CC buckle square flap waist bagBy ChanelLocated in Hong Kong, NTCHANEL 1990's Vintage silver nylon logo strap CC buckle square flap waist bag Reference: ANWU/A00038 Brand: Chanel Designer: Karl Lagerfeld Model: Nylon Collection: 1997-1999 Ma...Category
1990s Belt Bags
- Mariano Fortuny Rare Black Stencilled Velvet Drawstring BagBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYFortunys stenciled velvet drawstring bags found a use for small pieces of his precious velvets, their sizes vary due to the dimensions of the cuts.They are exceedingly rare.
<...CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Pouches and Wristlets
- Hermès GeeGee Savannah Zebra 2022By HermèsLocated in Rubiera, REHermès GEEGEE SAVANNAH bag charm - Talisman "Zebra" - Collection 2022 Lambskin in Craie, Noir and Rose Mexico New with BoxCategory
2010s French Wallets and Small Accessories
- Gucci GG Marmont Black Leather Bi Fold WalletBy GucciLocated in Salt Lake Cty, UTAuthentic Gucci GG Marmont Bi-fold Wallet in black leather. A slim wallet that features smooth black leather. A Double G palladium toned hardware that adds a subtle logo twist to t...Category
2010s Italian Wallets
- Dior Black Leather Saddle iPhone X CaseBy Christian DiorLocated in Dubai, Al Qouz 2This cover from Dior is for iPhone X users. It is made from leather and features a Saddle flap detail. The case has been designed to protect your phone while ...Category
2010s Italian Tech Accessories and Cases
- Fendi Black Leather Studded Monster Luggage CharmBy FendiLocated in Dubai, Al Qouz 2Adorable and playful, this luggage charm by Fendi features a small black leather silhouette featuring the signature Monster eye detail with studs. The ch...Category
2010s Italian Tech Accessories and Cases
- Dolce & Gabbana Burgundy Leather Dauphine Continental WalletBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Dubai, Al Qouz 2Ensure your essentials are in place with this Dauphine Continental wallet from Dolce & Gabbana. Crafted using leather, the burgundy wallet for women ha...Category
2010s Italian Wallets
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
The Fendi Baguette Is an ‘It’ Bag Again, 25 Years After Its Introduction
Iconic Italian fashion houses Fendi and Versace teamed up on this delightfully outrageous Fendace reimagining.
14 Iconic Luxury Handbags and the Stories behind Them
When the name of a bag is as well-known as its brand, you know it's a classic.