Fendi opted to call its famous bag "baguette" after someone at the launch commented that it should be carried "like French bread", called a baguette.

Fendi’s Baguette has been so popular that LVMH, the new owner of Phillips International Auctioneers and Prada recently joined forces to by a 51% stake in Fendi

The Baguette was the inspiration of Silvia Venturini who ran away to South America when she was 17 shocking the 74-year old Rome based fashion house

The baguette was launched in the Autumn of 1997 and even Fendi admits it has no idea why the handpag has been so popular

Fendi’s baguette range started with Silvia ordering 12 to be produced with a £3,100 price tag

Harrods has a waiting list of 700 people queuing to get their hands on a baguette bag

Fendi keeps redesigning the baguette and the range includes some geometric patterened needlepoint baguettes in sherbet colours with lizard clasps and sequinned baguettes

One Fendi baguette takes 12 days to make as it is handwoven silk which is woven at 5cm of fabric a day and there are only three artists who are skilled enough to work the design

Silvia is now in charge of Fendissime, a new collection for the younger set – so successful has the range been that in 1992 Karl Lagerfeld Fendi’s ready-to-wear designer since 1965 suggested Silvia take over Fendi’s accessories

Silvia has designed the famous Fendi Baguette buckle based on the double FF logo that is Fendi’s trademark Fendi’s reputation for luxury items was built on its high class luxurious furs

Fashionista

Just call me...fashionista! Can't help but love what is on the horizon for fall '99. The American film industry deserves the Oscar for highlighting designer fashion to this degree. Can't help but think of Rene Russo as the cashmere draped Catherine Banning in the movie, "The Thomas Crown Affair." Of course, she was wrapped up in a lot less for evening wear, but the wardrobe department outdid itself in clipping terrific styles by Michael Kors for Celine. This is the ultimate all-American look, hands down.

A no-frills, clean design is how fall shapes up. The pieces fall into place, the sportswear is spare, just a tad feminine to smooth out the edges. These are the clothes we live in and can count on, especially when the fabrics are the most ultra quality to date.

The Store Has It

As Neiman Marcus insists we "layer on the luxury." They understand the truly luxe feeling of felted wools, cashmere, and buttery leather and suedes. As I consider the marvelous sensation of the softest textures for fall, I count the days until our Neiman Marcus opens on Worth Avenue. As we glide into "season" there is nothing more divine than the thought of slipping into some real fashion! How great it will be to snap on those day pearls, silky hose, a wool shetland skirt and finish it off with a knit crew neck. What could be more classic than that?

The Girl in the Grey Flannel Pump

Taking the classic shapes in sportswear, fine tuning them, creating a longer, leaner silhouette, the format shifts to a more streamlined look. Bring on shades of grey, and the utilitarian feeling surfaces. As grey holds its course for the up-coming season or two, it brings on a new dimension in accessories. Have you seen the grey flannel pump around town? It pulls together the total look from the lapel to the Audrey Hepburn heel. There is a neat texture play between the nubby wool and accompanying silver tone hardware. Whether it be the bit on the shoe, or the handle on the handbag, the stainless steel effect denotes function. Handbags, purses, and pouches are translated into the very cloth that softens up whole ensembles. Fur, hair-calf, boiled wool, tartans and plaids replace the leather of past seasons. If you can imagine Edwardian tapestries and kilim rugs transposed into the carry-all of the day, then do so! If you must satisfy the penchant for a fabric, embroidered or furry bag this season you will soon swoon at the Fendi baguettes. This unusual grouping catapults the company into an orbit all their own. Celebs tuck them under their arms just so we can catch a glimpse of patterning. The whole thing is very inventive.

Continued Handbag Fever

More down to earth, dashing around town slung over our shoulders is the "Ford" by Kate Spade. These obligatory rectangles are very orderly, sitting somewhere between the elbow and the wrist, just right. Hurray for the color explosion, this uniform feels like it took on a smile.

Somewhere in the mid-distance, I discovered that a renowned hair stylist designed a collection of bags along with his winsome hair accessories. The shapes of both are smart and up-to-date. He combines pressed wool with bridle leather to create a gutsy look. They can be found in his charming shop in New York City, however, the inspiration is from his homeland, the South of France.

Scouting around further, I came across a grouping of knock-out Lamberson Truex at Jacobson's in Boca Raton. Plus, the basic bucket bag by Longchamps continues to be a tried and true winner.

Speaking of Winners

From the Jackie O. Gucci hobo to Bottega Veneta's camel colored messenger bag, the message is clear, these accessories rule! The beauty part is that once assembled, and pulled together, the bag is the finishing touch. It sets the tone, it defines. Don't leave home without a worthy one! The sheer range of styles may baffle the most jaded fashionista, but take heed, when considering a purchase in question, this season there are enough winner looks to go around. So, go to town!

It all started in 1925, when Edoardo and Adele Fendi opened a small leather and fur store with its own workshop in Via del Plebiscito in the center of Rome. The business prospered, and a new shop was opened in Via Piave in 1932. By 1946 Paola, 15, the eldest of the couple's five daughters, went to work for the firm, followed by her sisters Carla, Anna, Franca, and Alda.

The next big step for the family was taking over a movie theater on Via Borgognona that was about to be torn down. Adele Fendi, already an urban preservationist, protested to the owner, who promptly answered: "Why don't you buy it, Signora Fendi?" She did, the Fendi flagship store was born, and today there are five Fendi shops (leather goods, fur, shoes, luggage, ready-to-wear) on Via Borgognona alone. Anna Fendi is president of the Via Borgognona Association.

In 1965 a marriage made in heaven, that between the Fendis and German designer Karl Lagerfeld, was sealed, and it proved to be fortuitous for both. Lagerfeld immediately created the inverted FF logo that joined the growing list of international status symbols, and then set about, aided and abetted by the sisters, to revolutionize the treatment of fur.

By 1966 Fendi had presented its first couture fur collection, designed by Lagerfeld. It was an immediate success with foreign buyers. Marvin Traub, president of Bloomingdale's, discovered Fendi's leather goods and introduced them to the United States. Other outlets soon followed, and today Fendi has a large store on New York's Fifth Avenue, as well as numerous Fendi boutiques around the world.

In 1969 Fendi presented its first ready-to-wear fur collection at Palazzo Pitti in Florence, bringing continuously evolving techniques and imaginative designs to lower-priced furs without sacrificing quality. When the sisters couldn't find the fabric clothes they wanted to show under the furs their ready-to-wear line was born, again to great success. It wasn't long before the "young" Fendissime line was born, followed by perfume and other licenses

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