‘It’s not a bag: it’s a Baguette!’ cries Carrie Bradshaw in season three of Sex and the City. Important distinction. By the time that episode aired it was the year 2000 and the Fendi Baguette was the accessory — arguably birthing the ‘It bag’ phenomenon.
The Baguette has now turned 25 — marking the milestone in suitably glamorous style with a blockbuster show at Hammer stein Ballroom during September’s New York Fashion Week (Linda Evangelista walked; SJP sat front row — obviously. She also designed one of her own). As part of the celebrations, Fendi’s artistic director of womenswear, Kim Jones, called on Marc Jacobs to reinterpret the Baguette in his own design language. As well as his take on the bag, Jacobs was given carte blanche to create clothes and accessories, too.
‘I first met Kim when I was working at Vuitton — I now consider him a great friend,’ says Jacobs. ‘Kim had told me that Fendi was doing this 25th anniversary of the Baguette and that it was going to be a celebration of New York. He invited me to design some looks for it… I think he had this idea in his mind that my involvement would sort of represent the “downtown” part of New York. So I agreed and I went to Rome a few times and worked with Kim, Sylvia, Delfina and the whole team. It was a new experience.’
‘The process of putting this project together was almost like a stream of consciousness,’ says Jones. ‘Just as there is a sense of utility to the collection, there is a sense of utility to the bag. It also reflects the Baguette’s beginnings in the Nineties, when utility became such a big thing in fashion — cargo pants and the whole military-inflected thing. There is an idea of packability and practicality in the clothing and accessories we put together for this collection.’
The result? Monochrome logo leggings, swimsuits and sunnies. Maxi denim skirts, bucket hats and flatform high-tops. Flashes of fluoro yellow call to mind NY’s hi-vis workmen’s jackets. And of course, Baguettes: mini ones, metallic ones, some with ‘The Baguette’ emblazoned across the front (just in case anyone misses the memo), even a hoodie version.
So we couldn’t help but wonder what Jones’ final thoughts are on the Baguette. ‘The Baguette is a pillar of Fendi — and it is fun. Seeing it refabricated and reanimated by Tiffany & Co or Marc Jacobs, it’s always the Baguette,’ he says. ‘The ratios of the scale allow it to take on many things while always maintaining its own identity. The Baguette is one of those things beyond fashion: it’s a part of pop culture. It could be put in the Design Museum in the future.’
