Since July and through the end of the year, Fendi has a pop-up shop on Prince Street in SoHo, which I visited on Sunday. Through the use of a claw crane machine thematic, the store sets up the bags and furry fobs as objects of pure delight not easily obtained, a most apt description for a luxury bag.
In addition to new bags and piece limited to the location, there is also a display of some vintage pieces. An embossing machine is set up in a corner of the store for customers who wish to monogram their leather fobs (the ones shown above are embossed with designer Silvia Venturini Fendi’s initials).
Most fashion folks know that Venturini Fendi designs the label’s bags, but I didn’t realize until it was explained by a staff member that the label’s creative director and fur and leather coat designer, Karl Lagerfeld, is responsible for the popular Monster fobs because they fall under the fur coat category. They’re meant to be fun, yes, but also act as a bit of a gateway to the world of Fendi fur.
To the credit of Fendi and more so Karl Lagerfeld, who gleaned the importance of social media long before many of his peers, the staff is not only open to photography, it provides visitors with a hashtag (#FendiSoho) for social media posting.
So often visits to luxury stores can be an alienating experience. It’s understandable that a label would want to set a aura of exclusivity, but the Fendi SoHo store does a fantastic job of modernizing the concept with a store ready made for social media and a staff who views its role as much as educating as selling.
