Fendi

Adele and Edoardo Fendi opened their Roman fur and leather workshop in 1925, and the house that grew from it remained a family matriarchy for decades — five Fendi sisters ran it together, hiring a young Karl Lagerfeld in 1965 for what became the longest designer-house relationship in fashion history. Lagerfeld drew the double-F logo and transformed fur from stiff status symbol into supple, experimental material; the Roman ateliers' leather mastery produced the Baguette in 1997, the small shoulder bag that became the first 'it bag' and remains the house signature, joined by the Peekaboo. Fendi's headquarters occupy the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, the colonnaded icon of EUR, binding the house permanently to Roman architecture. The Baguette and Peekaboo are the collectors' constants; the Selleria line shows the saddle-stitched leather craft at its most traditional.

Ask to see the Selleria pieces stitched with the visible saddle stitch — the Roman leather craft that predates the fashion house survives most plainly there.