(Designers)
Silvia Venturini Fendi Steps Down As Fendi’s Creative Director
Read about her new role, here.
Another day, another creative director announcement. On Monday morning, Fendi broke the news that Silvia Venturini Fendi is stepping down as the Italian fashion house’s creative director, just five days after she presented her Spring/Summer 2026 collection for the house in Milan. But her work at Fendi is far from over — the industry veteran has been named its honorary president.
The luxury label shared the announcement on Instagram. “In her new capacity, she will focus on supporting Fendi’s heritage, while continuing to champion the brand worldwide and promoting the Maison’s rich history, exceptional craftsmanship, and the world of Fendi Casa,” Fendi said of her new role in the caption.
A third-generation member of the Fendi family (her grandparents Edoardo Fendi and Adele Casagrande founded the house in 1925), Venturini Fendi kicked off her decades-long tenure at the brand in 1992, working alongside the late Karl Lagerfeld, who was at the helm until his death in 2019. In 1994, she began overseeing its accessories and menswear lines and has ever since. However, Venturini Fendi took on the creative director role following Kim Jones’ departure last October. And she stepped in at the perfect time — her Fall/Winter 2025 womenswear show also celebrated the brand’s 100th anniversary. It was a family affair; her six-year-old twin grandsons, Dardo and Tazio Vascellari Fendi, opened the show in cute equestrian outfits, which were replicas of a similar look Lagerfeld created for Venturini Fendi when she was the same age.
“These have been truly exciting years, a journey I have walked also in the name of my grandmother Adele, my mother Anna, and her sisters,” Venturini Fendi said in a statement. “My heart turns to Karl, an extraordinary master who granted me the honor of working by his side, teaching me the art of sharing, a defining quality in my family’s history of women, while guiding me to nurture and protect my own creative vision so that I could then fly on my own.”
She continued, “What a wonderful journey it has been, not only creatively but also from a human perspective: first through my bond with Karl Lagerfeld, then with Kim Jones and last but not least with my fantastic team, which over the years has become part of my family.”
Venturini Fendi is responsible for some of Fendi’s most iconic creations, one being its beloved Baguette bag. She designed the purse in 1997, and it soon became an it silhouette during the early aughts, thanks to celebrity endorsements (think Paris Hilton, Mischa Barton, and Kate Moss) and cameos on Sex and the City. (“It’s not a bag, it’s a Baguette.) Venturini Fendi was also behind the house’s structured, boxy Peekaboo style, which debuted on the runway during its Spring/Summer 2009 show, designed by Lagerfeld.
As for who will take the reins next? “A new creative organization for FENDI will be announced in due time,” Fendi wrote in its Instagram caption. We’ll just have to hold tight until then.
