It's been ten years since the Fendi Baguette lit the touch paper on the explosive—and still booming—market for It bags. That was why it turned up again today—in a new manifestation as a squishy oversize clutch, casually clamped to the sides of a few of Karl Lagerfeld's Spring looks for the house. This wasn't really a grandstanding statement, though, because Fendi has long since segued into new fields, and Lagerfeld never goes in for anniversaries anyhow.
Thanks to his constant forward motion, the image of Italy's foremost fur house has, over time, transitioned into a ready-to-wear label that is now bought by stores year-round. There's always something to be found here that jibes with the subtexts of current trends. This season, it's all in the drapey jersey dresses in barely-there blues and _eau de nil_s. These long flyaway numbers with their handkerchief-point sleeves and trailing scarves bring to mind the romantic cult that surrounded Chloé in the seventies. That may be a reference point for several other designers for Spring, but aficionados will savor the fact that these Fendi versions are, in one sense, originals. After all, they come from the very hand that started the whole thing in the first place.
