WWD today divulged that five celebrities will be designing their own Fendi 3Baguette handbag for a new charity project that will mark the inauguration of Fendi’s newest flagship on Madison Avenue in New York.
Rihanna, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rachel Feinstein, Jourdan Dunn and Leandra Medine have teamed up with the brand to personalize their purses — a new style launched at the end of last year with a more structured shape and making more functional use of the FF logo — which will be unveiled at a cocktail party at the new store on Valentine’s Day Eve, hosted by Karl Lagerfeld, Silvia Venturini Fendi and chairman and chief executive officer Pietro Beccari.
On display for a month (February 13 to March 13, 2105), and available for purchase at the same time through a dedicated online auction site that Fendi is launching at the end of this month, each of the five 3Baguette designs’ proceeds will be channeled to charitable organizations selected by each woman.
Rihanna’s proceeds will benefit The Clara Lionel Foundation, which she founded in 2012 in honor of her grandparents, and which works to improve the quality of life for communities globally in the areas of health, education, arts and culture. Parker’s designs will benefit The Brain Trauma Foundation, while Dunn’s are aimed at The Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. The Man Repeller’s Medine will support the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, and Feinstein has chosen to help the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.
“They had free rein, choosing their favorite colors, favoring their own personal tastes,” Beccari told WWD in an interview, and citing the intricacies of some of their customizations, he added… “It also shows that nothing is impossible with the incredible artisans at Fendi.”
A similar charity project marked the opening of Fendi’s London flagship, as Tracey Emin, Gwyneth Paltrow, Zaha Hadid and Jerry Hall customized the brand’s women’s Peekaboo handbag to raise funds for the London and Bristol-based Kids Co.
