BRIEF HISTORY OF FENDI
The House of Fendi was established in Rome, Italy in 1925. Created by Edoardo and Adele Fendi, the company was the first handbag and fur workshop in Via del Plebiscito, Rome, but became famous for its impeccable designs and high-quality products. Fendi grew into a high-end leather and fur goods destination on the Italian peninsula, and demand skyrocketed.
Two decades after Fendi first opened, Adele and Edoardo passed on their luxury Roman empire to their five daughters—Paola, Franca, Carla, Anna and Alda. The daughters jumped at the opportunity to modernize the Fendi brand and make it cool, so they welcomed Karl Lagerfeld with open arms. In 1965, Karl was already a fashion trailblazer as he had designed for the likes of Balmain and Chloé. At their first meeting, Karl grabbed a piece of paper and drew the brand’s now iconic double F logo, which stands for Fun Furs. Once the double F — or Zucca logo — was applied to the goods, the company instantly became a lighthearted and dynamic luxury brand.
“I drew the Double F in three seconds, and it became the acronym of the Fendi house.” - Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld reimagined fur – which was previously used for large, heavy coats – and incorporated it into ready-to-wear collections and leather goods, thereby increasing the sales and demand of Fendi’s fur and making it more accessible.
Lagerfeld worked closely with the Fendi daughters to evolve and innovate the brand by offering a lot more color and creating more unique and creative pieces. In fact, Lagerfeld was also the creative mind behind the launch of Fendi’s ready-to-wear collection in 1977 and launched a shoe line in 1978.
FENDI AUTHENTICATION
From clothing to shoes, and handbags to accessories, Fendi has been creating some of the fashion industry’s most iconic pieces since it was first established in 1925. Today, it’s still one of the world’s top luxury brands with one of the most instantly recognizable logos, the Zucca, but with popular luxury brands comes counterfeiters, and their ability to expertly copy some of Fendi’s top-selling items is better than ever. That’s why it’s so important you know the warning signs to look out for before you purchase a pre-owned Fendi bag for your closet.
ZUCCA LOGO
The metal Fs on the front of a Fendi bag should be staggered on either side of the rectangular plate, and not directly across from each other. With the monogram print in the Zucca and Zucchino designs, the FF should be the same size throughout the bag, equally distant, and the second dash in the F should be shorter and thinner than the one above it.
HARDWARE
Authentic Fendi bag clasps are made of heavy-duty, smooth and shiny nickel, brass or nickel plating. The Fs should be flipped vertically and horizontally, but not parallel to one another. The plaque should be the same color as the rest of the bag’s hardware.
Keep in mind that Fendi likes to engrave most of their hardware with either FENDI or FF so look for the engraving on places like zippers and closures. Pay attention to the YKK zippers on a Fendi bag as it can be a telltale sign of a fake. While the zippers should feature the Fendi logo on both sides, exterior zippers will have metal YKK zippers, they should open and close smoothly, and the same standards appply to the bag’s locks too. Fakes may try to trick you with poorly designed stamping or engraving on exterior hardware.
LEATHERS & MATERIALS
Fendi bags are always made of the best quality leathers and that means the bag should stand up on its own, be buttery soft to the touch, and it should smell like real, clean leather and not chemically. For other bags like those made of Fendi’s signature jacquard canvas, the weaves of the materials should be perfect, and not loosely woven or pixelated, and the lining should be plain canvas without any FF designs.
SERIAL NUMBERS
All Fendi bags made after the 1980s have a serial number. It’s either embossed on the back of a leather tag or on a narrow leather tag, sewn into the seam in one of the corners or pockets. The label inside should read ‘FENDI Made in Italy’. This serial code consists of an alpha-numeric serial number, separated by dashes and consisting of 15 to 17 digits that are identical to the number on the bag’s authenticity card.
Fendi introduced holographic foil stickers in 2004 which is attached to the fabric tag and accompanies a serial number.
RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION
Then, in early 2010 Fendi replaced the hologram with RFID. The RFID has a scannable chip located on the fabric tag within the bag which is stitched with 8 digits containing information on the production and origins of the bag. RFID tags can only be read using a special device which can be found at the store.
Brand new and authentic Fendi bags come with paper cards that contain the same serial number hidden inside the bag. This paperwork also includes the model, color and barcode.
Content and images for this blog post have been referenced from LePrix.