Kurtas catch Carla Fendi's attention

MUMBAI: When your last name is Fendi, some things are a given. Like the fact that your clothes will be designed by the legendary Karl Lagerfeld, your bag will be an anniversary edition 'Baguette' and the rock on your finger will be the size of a small country. Carla Fendi, honorary president of the Italian high fashion house, doesn't disappoint on any count.Sitting in her suite at the Mumbai's Taj hotel, the 60-something Ms Fendi is a picture of warmth and confidence. "I've always been fascinated by India and the country has turned out to be everything I dreamt it would be,'' she says in fluent Italian, pausing at just the right places for the interpreter to step in. "Your country always held a special place in my heart in the geography class because its name began and ended with I and A, just like mine (Italia)," she adds, her eyes lighting up at the memory.
Many years have passed since Carla Fendi sat in that classroom, learning geography. Now, she and her four sisters (and nieces and nephews) run the House of Fendi, a luxury goods brand that their parents started as a fur and leather goods store in Rome back in 1925. "Family businesses are common place in Italy, like they are in India,'' she says. But is it easy to work with family? "The Fendi brand was born into our family and has grown with it. Our parents taught us the golden rule of maintaining our individuality, dealing with the occasional disagreement and eventually doing what's best for the brand. None of us has ever forgotten that."
Today Fendi is part of French luxury goods conglomerate LVHM and one of their most successful brands to date. The iconic Fendi Baguette-that looks like the French loaf and can be carried on the shoulder or as a clutch-was the first bag that was treated as a piece of clothing. The fashion house came to India in 2008 and has a store in Delhi's DLF Emporio. Various versions of the Baguette cost between Rs 50,000-70,000 and variations of the Fendi Peekaboo are priced anywhere between Rs 1.3 lakh and Rs 1.8 lakh. The Peekaboo is the brand's bestseller in India.
Though Ms Fendi has a keen sense of all the facts and figures about the Fendi empire (she looked after the communications department for the group), she is happier to dwell on her maiden visit to India. In the country to be part of fashion magazine Grazia India's third anniversary celebrations, Carla has welcomed everything Indian with great enthusiasm. "I love the food, the fabrics, the fashion sense here," she says. What does she plan to take back from the country? "What I'd really like to take back is some kurtas for my husband, who's travelling with me. They look great on Indian men. But first I need to convince him to wear them," she grins.