DESIGNS ON creativity
The latest in FENDI’s path-breaking DESIGN DIALOGUES is an association with the designer duo Formafantasma that reinterprets LEATHER, its form, and usage
If one were to zero in on the two things that are at the heart of everything Fendi, they would undoubtedly be its creative powerhouse Silvia Venturini Fendi’s love for leather and her passion for fatto a mano practices or the art of handcrafting. It’s not very difficult to see why. Since its inception in 1925, the Italian label has been handcrafting some of its most exquisite offerings in leather, the two elements slowly becoming the cornerstone of the brand. Now integral in its collection of accessories, apparel, and décor items, Silvia ensures that every new project that she dips her fingers into is also in one way or another, deeply entrenched in both these ideas.
Fendi’s much-applauded design initiatives are an extension of this very ideal, albeit coupled with the thought of starting new, experimental design dialogues. Since 2009, Fendi has been working closely with artists and other creative minds from across various spheres to generate concepts on innovative design, where they handmake items from discarded Fendi leather. “It’s a very genuine kind of dialogue,” says Silvia of the initiative. “We don’t use this kind of project to make products out of it. It’s a new experience for the designers, and it is interesting for us to see how the materials we normally use for our things can be interpreted in different ways. So it’s very stimulating for them and also for us. In our minds, what we are doing together is a learning process.”
In l i ne with t his, Fendi’s l atest collaboration is with the Italian design duo of Formafantasma, who have created an interesting array of décor items, objects d’art, and utilitarian products. Titled Craftica, and showcased at the renowned Design Miami at Art Basel this year, the collection is an ode to leather, where it is in conversation with other hand-worked,
M
aterials can become narratives of history and that’s the case with leather as well. Our work destroys some of the cliches that people have about leather,” says Simone Farresin.
natural materials. The aim: To showcase the enduring beauty of l eather and handcrafting within the context of contemporary living.
“The project is a homage to leather,” reiterates Simone Farresin, one half of Formafantasma. Farresin, and partner Andrea Trimarchi looked at leather through history—how it has been used and its multiple references thereof—as the starting point to create this collection. “I think it is a very interesting material. In this moment in design and art, there is a lot of deliberation on the relationship we have with production material; leather is symbolic of this perfect relationship. Formafantasma also likes to work with materials that have the ability to evoke strong feelings and memories. Our work also destroys some of the clichés that people have about leather.”
In Craftica, one can see how the material has been explored in unconventional ways, and how by pairing it with other materials its beauty or functionality is highlighted. There is a striking table, its top simply a sheet of thick, vegetal tanned hide, held down on the sides by marble. Similarly, there is a leather room divider, its top hooks covered in Fendi’s trademark Selleria stitching, and the leather sheet itself held down by a marble weight. Other items include beautiful ceiling lights in leather and glass, stools of fish skin leather, glass jars with bone handles that are covered in hide, ladles, and a hot water bottle. There is also an interesting wall collage
that traces the history of leather through its various uses over time, drawn with pencil on stretched goatskin parchment. And in keeping with the core idea, everything has been created from discarded scraps from the Fendi manufactory.
Adds Farresin, “When you think of leather, you think of handbags. You don’t see where it comes from, or its natural textures. So what we really wanted to do was display its different faces. We also wanted to be more sensitive and show that it belongs equally to the daily, vis-a-vis its exotic nature.”
This is also the first time that Fendi is showcasing its design performance project at Art Basel, where Farresin, Trimarchi, and a Fendi craftsman worked live at the exhibition to craft products in front of the viewers. The aim was to highlight the process behind the creation of these items, something Silvia says is important in a world where people are fast losing touch with their roots.
“I love these items because they remind me of something so wild and primitive,” says Silvia of the Craftica creations. “When I saw some of their tools, I felt like I was using them in one of my previous lives. It gave me a nice vibe, I felt like these things are really familiar. They reminded me of an old time, in a sense showing that you can still use old techniques in a new way.”
Fendi’s collaborations with artists have been coming in fast and thick in the past few years. The brand’s collaboration began with Design Miami in 2008, with a series of lectures, and in 2009, there was Craft Punk, an installation made of discarded Fendi materials, by 10 artists. The year 2010 saw
Modern Primitives, architects Benjamin Aranda and Chris Lasch’s installation created from Fendi fur, which also inspired a limited-edition Peekaboo. And 2011 showcased Craft Alchemy for which artist Sebastian Neeb and textile designer Elisa Strozyk transformed antique furniture from solid wood into leather and other pliable textiles. In the same year, Fendi collaborated with the Royal College of Art, London, on window displays that students made out of discarded Fendi material.
“This is a project that we are getting more and more involved in with every season,” says Silvia. “It is interesting to have these kinds of collaborations with some of the designers, where there can be a common ground because of the challenges between strong, heavy creativity, and at the same time, the technical and functional aspects that have to be married to give shape to interesting ideas.”
The pieces created as a part of Fendi’s design initiatives will not be in production or for sale, and in fact have been acquired by Fendi for its Foundation for Limited Edition Design. The idea at the end of the day, as Silvia says, is to initiate and give fillip to new design. No doubt, Fendi is well on track.