Walk On The Wild Side

The jewellery designer Delfina Delettrez’s chic Parisian home is fi lled with quirky vintage treasures— much like her wardrobe.

- Lucy Halfhead

I was raised on milk— and fashion,” says the jewellery designer Delfina Delettrez, glancing over at her mother Silvia Venturini Fendi, the head of accessories at the family’s eponymous fashion house,  who has turned up unexpectedly midway through the BAZAAR shoot. As a young girl, Delettrez explains, she would beg to do her homework in the atelier (or as she describes it, her “second school”), where Karl Lagerfeld was a familiar presence. “I knew that when he was in the studio, something special was going on because everything was in order,” she says. “Everybody was wearing heels and looking prettier.”

Petite and poised, her dark hair slicked back and wearing black from head to toe, the 29-year-old is emerging as the latest creative force in the illustrious fashion dynasty. Her great-grandparents Edoardo Fendi and Adele Casagrande founded the house in 1925 as a fur workshop, redesigning coats to flatter the female form. Today, Delettrez is infiltrating the traditionally male world of horology, with her first watch collection for Fendi, Policromia.

The range is inspired by the geometric layout of the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana in Rome, which is home to Fendi’s headquarters. “I’ve always thought of the building as a giant sundial because of all the shadows,” she says. “Each floor has its own marble, almost like different landscapes, and then through the arches you can sometimes see a light blue sky, sometimes an amazing sunset, or dark clouds. It’s very Magritte.”