Fendi Baguette Comeback
If you’ve been seeing more tube tops, micro-mini skirts, and colorful everything recently, chances are you’ve also seen the Fendi Baguette. The comeback of late “90s” and early “00s” fashion has been everywhere the past two years, and it has reminded older generations of the Y2K era dominated by Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Internet personality and jewelry designer Carla Rockmore, on TikTok, has been a part of the education behind these fashion resurgences and histories. People are clearly interested, with the #fendibaguette holding more than 6.0 million views on the social media app.
The invention of the Fendi Baguette Bag dates back to 1965, when Karl Lagerfeld, joined the Italian fashion brand as Artistic Director and created the recognizable double-F logo. His talents mixed with Silvia Venturini Fendi, creative director and granddaughter of the brand’s founders, birthed the elegant shoulder bag in 1997, when it was added officially to Fendi’s collection. Inspired by the delicate and blasé attitude attributed to Parisian women, as well as the simpleness of how women carried a loaf of bread under their arms returning from the local bakery, drives the form and function of the piece. Also creating the iconic name of the bag: baguette.
Image sourced here.
Image sourced here.
With this versatile rectangular silhouette, “FF” logo clasp, simple flap closure, and single strap, it is considered by historians and collectors to be one of the first ever “It-bags.” The popular show of the time the baguette was introduced into the world. Sex and the City’s main character, Carrie Bradshaw, also created the cult following of this must have accessory. Thanks to the genius of costume designer Patricia Field, Carrie Bradshaw was well known for her impeccable style. She paraded around New York City with the flexible must have accessory. This was one of the original influences for the way she created buzz for the baguette.
In Season 3 of the show, one particular scene Carrie was mugged by a fashionable robber asking for her bag, Manolo Blahniks, and other accessories. Before giving up her shimmering purple gem, Carrie humorously corrects the thief, “it’s a baguette.” Enthusiasts fled to stores to shop for the It-status symbol creating the height of popularity.
Image sourced here.
Other brands tried to knock off the bag, and years later, the buzz began to wane. Other handbags from Louis Vuitton to Balenciaga grew in popularity. Fendi discontinued the Baguette, until reintroducing it in 2019. Vintage silhouettes circled back alongside the reboots of Sex and the City. Just like that and with the appearance of Gossip Girl, marketing towards Gen Z and Millennials, especially with their ad campaigns, Carrie Bradshaw’s style was hot and new again. Highlighting the baguette again helped it grow in popularity. Sarah Jessica Parker, in the main ad campaign, is followed by a group of young women chasing after her hot new “bag.” In response, she spins around cheerfully correcting them with her old line, before strutting off, alluding to her iconic scene in the old-school series.
The baguette relaunch came with even more personality, adding fringe to graphics, to two strap or cross body strap options for the accessory. This variety of new fabrications are just as popular as the vintage styles among today's influencers and celebrities. Websites such as The Real Real and Rebag thankfully make it possible to score a pre-owned baguette and hop on the trend. This elegant timelessness as well as the multifunctional aspect of it will forever hold a place on our shoulders. But just remember, it’s not a bag. It’s a baguette.
Image sourced here.
Article by Caroline Milo, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine
Tearsheets by Alexa Dyer, Graphic Design Intern, PhotoBook Magazine