Elegant, Franca, Fendi

Franca Fendi died in Rome at her home in the Camilluccia neighborhood, at the age of 87. Together with Paola, Anna, Carla (who passed away in 2017) and Alda, she was the third daughter of Edoardo Fendi and Adele Casagrande and had been part of the Maison founded in Rome by her parents in 1925 from a very young age.

Under the management with her sisters from the late 1940s, the name Fendi soon blossomed, becoming in the 1960s a symbol of Italian style and excellence all over the world.

In this all-female affair, Franca was in charge of purchasing. And it was Franca who was the legendary manager of the store in Rome in via Borgognona, where, in the mid-1960s, Fendi sealed the agreement with Karl Lagerfeld, who would remain the creative director of the brand for the next 50 years, recently passing away in 2019. 

France Fendi talked about her childhood, her relationship with her mother, the life and dreams nurtured with her sisters, but also the history of the maison and intimate family events including her marriage and the dark moments of her husband's illness, up to the sale of the company to French luxury giant LVMH led by Arnault, in her 2018 autobiography Sei con me - La nostra grande unica storia d'amore (You are with me - Our great, unique love story) published by Rizzoli.