Fendi celebrates Chinese ethnic group's craftsmanship

Italian luxury house exhibits handbags made in collaboration with Yi people

Honoring its appreciation for Italian craftsmanship and new discoveries about the Yi ethnic group, luxury brand Fendi launched an exhibition at Temple Dongjingyuan in Beijing on Tuesday.

As part of efforts under the brand's "hand in hand" initiative, the exhibition set the stage for craftspeople and artists to express themselves, showcasing Fendi's exchanges and collaborations in celebration of the luxury house's icons.

Conceived in Italy in 2020 and in evolution worldwide, "hand in hand" is a grassroots partnership between Fendi and local artisans, which highlights the Baguette bag — designed by Artistic Director of Accessories and Menswear Silvia Venturini Fendi in 1997 — as an icon of the house and an instantly recognizable canvas for perpetual transformation.

Jike Junyi, curator, singer and member of the Yi ethnic group, and Kylie Ying, curator, collector and co-founder of Art021, JingArt and DnA Shenzhen, attended the event.

The Fendi Baguette "hand in hand" initiative calls upon a diverse group of ateliers and workshops to interpret the bag by applying their local craft to transform its traditional construction into an artwork.

The name "hand in hand" represents the encounter of the local artisans' hands with the Fendi artisans' hands, giving life to a collaboration where ancient handmade techniques of profound value come together in the creation of these one-of-a-kind pieces.

Above and beyond the creation of artisanal Fendi products, "hand in hand" established a strong network of human relationships and is a crucial step in preserving and transmitting the rare craft, creativity and savoir-faire of these local artisans around the world, according to the brand.

It is the third venue in the world and the second outside Italy. The first exhibition was in the Fendi headquarters in Rome in 2021, and the second was held in Tokyo, Japan, in April 2023.

To celebrate the opening of the exhibition in China, the fashion house worked with the Yi ethnic group, one of the oldest in southwest China.

It worked together with artisans Axi Wuzhimo, who learned traditional Yi embroidery when she was 10 and is now head of the "Yi Needle Yi Thread" professional embroidery cooperative, and Legu Shari — Legu meaning craftsmen in Yi language — whose family is known for silver jewelry making skills that have been passed down to the 14th generation.

As inheritors of the Yi intangible cultural heritage, the two artisans created a Baguette in a velvety black fabric embroidered with blue, green and aqua green silk threads, and lined with green silk satin.

In the Yi culture, black symbolizes the Earth, while green stands for the lush grass and trees that grow around mountains and rivers. The embroidery is inspired by nature, represented by the azalea flower, a symbol of beauty, and combines various types of stitching to obtain a vivid and tactile effect.

The 925-sterling silver "FF" buckle was crafted through a complex process where silver was melted and turned into flakes or delicate filigree wires, which were then worked on to create beautiful designs and three-dimensional decorations. Finally, the bag was enriched with tassels and silver pendants inspired by traditional Yi silver ornaments.

The Yi creation was showcased in an immersive space dedicated to the Baguette, along with 23 other "hand in hand" Baguette bags selected from the Italian editions of the project, each handmade in a different region in collaboration with local artisans.

For the occasion, two Yi craftsmen Jigu Jijimo and Naigu Chenglong, along with Italian artisans Vincenzo Bossio and Elena Ciarrocchi attended the exhibition to showcase live the craft skills used in the creation of the Baguette bags.

The exhibition scenography created a collision of digital and physical experience, framing the artisanal process of the project within a historical and cultural narrative.

Floor-to-ceiling LED screens projected visions of extraordinary patience and skill, as artisans sketch designs, prepare materials, practice age-old techniques and reveal the intergenerational secrets of the ancestral art.

In a tribute to craftsmanship, design and art through Fendi icons, the exhibition featured a special area dedicated to the Peekaboo bag created by Silvia Venturini Fendi in 2008.

A selection of Peekaboo bags at the exhibition were created over the years by international designers, artists and famous personalities. They were invited by Fendi to customize a white canvas Peekaboo or create their own version of the bag during special occasions for the luxury house, including the Peekaboo Projects and the Peekaboo 10th anniversary.

The selection included Peekaboo bags reinterpreted by architect Zaha Hadid, British singer Adele, actress Angelababy, Olympic diving champion Guo Jingjing, designer Chris Wolston and artists Liang Yuanwei, Oscar Wang and Tim Yip, who transformed the Peekaboo through their work into a piece of art.

Contributing to the celebration, three new Peekaboo bags customized by talented local contemporary artists Lu Pingyuan, Ni Youyu and Chen Fenwan were unveiled in the exhibition.

The house of Fendi was established by Edoardo and Adele Fendi in Rome in 1925. The first Fendi boutique was a handbag shop and was then followed with a fur workshop. In 2000, the LVMH Group acquired Fendi and became its majority shareholder in 2001.