At the age of 87, she passed away in her Roman home Franca Fendi, third of the five sisters of the historic fashion house. With her sisters Paola, Anna, Carla (who passed away in 2017) and Alda, Franca has been involved in the management of the maison since the post-war period, founded in 1925 by her parents Edoardo Fendi and Adele Casagrande, in the heart of Capital.
Fendi House
The fashion house grows and over the years it is an increasingly appreciated internationally, so much so that the Fendi brand becomes one of the most famous brands in the fashion style. Each of the sisters manages a different area of the house: from marketing to design, accessories and more. Furthermore, it is the Fendi sisters who involve a very young man Karl Lagerfeld in the world of fashion. A debut that will then lead the young designer to the pinnacle of success in other famous fashion houses. In 1964 with the Fendi brand he opened a boutique and an atelier in via Borgognona, one of the most exclusive of Roman shopping. Subsequently, in '68, Bloomingdale's, American department store, buys the entire collection of Fendi bags and begins the success of the fashion house double F even overseas.
In a book the story of a life
In 2018 Franca prints the book You are with me - Our one great love story for the types of Rizzoli. A novel thanks to which, for the first time, the designer opens the trunk of family memories by turning to her husband Luigi Formilli, retracing the story of her life. Childhood, the close and sincere relationship with the four sisters, the great love, marriage, children, grandchildren. But also the darkest moments like her husband's illness; in the background the changing Italy and, finally, the sale of the company to the French luxury giant LVMH.
(On the cover Franca Fendi / photo Adnkronos)
