SMOOTH WATERS
Fendi celebrates 10 years as a Design Miami partner with a refreshing new project
THE FOUNTAINS OF Rome play an important role in Fendi’s history. In 1977, the luxury maison produced a film to mark its first ready-to-wear collection, Histoire d’Eau, which featured a girl playing in the fountains of the Eternal City, while in 2013 the company established its Fendi for Fountains initiative to restore the Fontana di Trevi and others to their former glory. This resulted in a photographic book by Karl Lagerfeld, The Glory of Water. Fendi’s relationship with the arts goes further, and this year, to mark its 10th anniversary as a partner with design fair Design Miami, the brand commissioned Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis to create 10 fountains made of cast resin, each mounted on a plinth of the same travertine limestone from which Fendi’s headquarters, the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, is constructed. The project, titled The Shapes of Water, represents the essence of Fendi in a way that’s timeless and elegant, combining warm colours, textural elements and the brand’s decades of stylistic mastery to create a body of work that enriches an already proud creative and aesthetic legacy. Each fountain is inspired by a symbol of the luxury fashion house, from the Lagerfeld-designed double-F logo to the crossed pattern of astuccio fur to the arched architecture of the company headquarters. Our favourite is the translucent resin reproduction of Fendi’s Peekaboo bag, itself celebrating its 10th anniversary, sitting on a bed of water. fendi.com