Fendi to Mark 90th Birthday With 'Haute Fourrure' Fashion Show

Fendi is celebrating its 90th anniversary with a “haute fourrure” fashion show in Rome.

The luxury Italian house will return to its hometown on July 7 for a one-off catwalk show dedicated to fur, one if its favourite fabrics.

The iconic label first opened its doors on the historic city’s Via del Plebiscito in 1926, with the premises serving as a workshop dedicated to the fur and leather goods. Almost a century later the house, now under the creative direction of Karl Lagerfeld, retains an entire internal studio dedicated to working with the controversial material.

“An haute fourrure show in Rome is the best way to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Fendi to express our roots and our DNA while transmitting bold creativity and the unique expertise of fur,” said the brand’s CEO Pietro Beccari.

The move is a bold one, considering the recent wave of key fashion brands to publicly denounce the use of fur in clothing collections. Animal rights activists, who have been lobbying the industry for years, have been delighted by several high fashion labels readjusting their fur policies over the past year.

Just last month, the Armani Group announced plans to go fur-free this year, beginning with its fall 2016 collections, with designer Giorgio Armani overriding his previous stance on the issue and publicly stating: “I am pleased to announce that the Armani Group has made a firm commitment to abolish the use of animal fur in its collections.” Hugo Boss made a similar commitment in the summer of 2015, joining the ranks of fellow fur-free fashion labels Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Stella McCartney.