Only a few bags are as iconic as the Fendi Baguette—a piece that has transcended the luxury fashion bubble and become a pop culture icon in its own right. Its distinct design (coupled with a co-starring role in Sex & the City) made it one of the first bags to originate the ‘It bag’ phenomenon.
In honour of the Fendi Baguette’s 25th anniversary, the Italian fashion house staged a runway show in New York City back in September 2022. It was a thorough celebration of an icon filled with a number of collaborations as well as capsule collections incorporating the Baguette into various design permutations.
Arguably the most anticipated iteration, however, is a collaboration with Tiffany & Co..
The Tiffany x Fendi collaboration was evident on the runway through the use of the former’s signature colours on the Baguette as well as a selection of ready-to-wear pieces. The Tiffany x Fendi Baguette pieces are offered in medium, nano, and pico sizes in a number of leather variations, as well as a silk satin iteration that highlights the Tiffany Blue rather beautifully.
Now, both entities have taken the collaboration up a notch with an inspired rendition that exemplifies Fendi’s legacy and Tiffany & Co.’s craftsmanship.
Tiffany ‘Makers’—the brand’s artisans that work from its hollowware workshop in Rhode Island—took four months to complete a Fendi Baguette crafted entirely from sterling silver. The exquisite piece is part of Fendi’s ‘Hand in Hand’ initiative that was first launched in 2020. Created both as a celebration of the Fendi Baguette as well as to honour the craftsmanship of different Italian regions, the sterling silver iteration is the first ‘Hand in Hand’ project to come out of Italy.
The one-of-a-kind piece features a combination of two flowers: lilies and roses. The former nods to the national flower of Italy while the latter that of New York State. Tiffany and Co. silversmiths chased these designs by hand and then crafted the bag around them. After a total of 250 hours of craftsmanship, the resulting sterling silver Fendi Baguette bag weighs approximately 2.3kg.
Which really begs the question: Is this a bag? A Baguette? Or something more?
