THE BAGUETTE

THE LEGENDARY BAGUETTE BY FENDI TURNS 25 AND THE BRAND CELEBRATES IN STYLE WITH AN UNFORGETTABLE FASHION SHOW THAT OPENED NEW YORK FASHION WEEK. WE TALK TO ITS DESIGNER TO REVEAL THE SECRET OF ITS SUCCESS

- BENEDETTA POLETTI

It was the first bag to have its own name, rather than that of a celebrity. The first It bag to have a waiting list. The first to star in one of the funniest and most fashionable TV series, Sex and the City, and honestly, the only one that the character Carrie Bradshaw has been loyal to since 1998.

Hence we are in New York today: to celebrate the 25th anniversary of a true work of art that has marked pop cultural history, the Baguette. Silvia Venturini Fendi (Rome, 1960), artistic director of accessories and men's fashion for the label founded by her grandmother in 1925, is here to talk about it and the impact it has had.

There is just an hour left before the start of the fashion show of the special collection with which she and Kim Jones, artistic director of women's collections, are commemorating the birthday of this timeless bag. This includes collaborations with other LVMH group brands, such as Marc Jacobs and Tiffany & Co., and with the Japanese luggage brand, Porter, and brings together a constellation of fashion icons, from actress Sarah Jessica Parker to the legendary supermodel Linda Evangelista in her return to the catwalks. But Silvia, who is part of the third generation of a clan of strong women, from a matriarchy for whom the only mantra is "Nothing is impossible", does not show an ounce of that excitement that usually precedes a major show.

Don't you think this bag is the spirit of New York incarnate?

Yes, especially after Sex and the City enshrined it.

We all remember when Carrie said, as someone tried to steal it at gunpoint: "It's not a bag, it's a Baguette!" It was the first bag with a name of its own.