
You’d have thought it was a movie premiere, with the hoopla converging outside midtown Manhattan’s Hammerstein Ballroom. But inside, despite the celebrity presence, the real star was a handbag.
Not just any handbag, but the “Baguette” — the ubiquitous Fendi bag created 25 years ago and named for the long French loaf of bread and the way it, too, is carried under the arm of the discerning buyer. The Fendi show on Friday night was a big birthday party for the bag and its long-lasting claim to pop-culture fame.