Fendi celebrates its 90 Years, connecting its past and its future
On the 7th of July Fendi show “Legend and Fairytales” took place at the Trevi Fountain, a very special location for the maison. A first-of-its-kind runway was set on the monument to let models literally “parade on the water”. As Fendi CEO Pietro Beccari said, Trevi Fountain is a magic place, which represents at best the values of the maison, its tradition and its history, but at the same time its vision for the future. Rome is part of Fendi DNA and that’s why the brand decided to finance a series of initiatives focused on Rome, including “Fendi for Fountains”, a ca.€3 million project with the aim of restoring the city’s historic fountains.
Lagerfeld’s models were among the top “social media” stars, such as Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid, which interpret at best the Fendi “fun” philosophy. Their presence on the catwalk is absolutely aligned with the renewed approach to brand building and the willingness to be better connected with young consumers and to strengthen brand awareness. These young queens of the social media have the power to spread contents all over the world in a while and brands are totally aware of this communication tool, particularly if they want to communicate with young targets. When Kendal Jenner posted a video of the runway backstage on Instagram, she reached 1.8 million visualizations in three seconds. Moreover, the event was broadcasted live on Facebook, reaching ca. 1.5 million visualizations. That’s digital democratization.
Pietro Beccari has a clear vision of the maison’s future objectives concerning brand building, positioning and omnichannel investments, to be competitive in a more and more challenging global luxury market. “I think what sets apart a fashion brand from a luxury brand is history and clients. They approach a brand not just to buy a product. They prepare themselves and they like to buy into a set of values, like a lifestyle. And they also want to hear beautiful stories”, said Mr. Beccari in an interview by The Business of Fashion. Fendi’s ceo added also that the brand is investing a lot in retail, opening new stores in Australia, Canada and Russia, extending the e-commerce strategy also in Korea and Canada, and investing in in-store technology, because digital and physical integration is a fundamental part of the business strategy.
