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Back to Baguettes.

by Alessandra Ilari

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In 1997 Fendi ushered in the era of the It bag with its beloved Baguette, a longish, skinny purse meant to be tucked under one’s arm in the manner of a French loaf. Now Fendi is celebrating the design’s 10th anniversary, and instead of staging a retrospective the label is hoping to spark a revival. At the spring 2008 Fendi show in September, models walked the runway with reissued Baguettes in new sizes, from extra small to extra large. (The original came in only one size, medium.) Thanks to detachable straps, some of the new editions can be converted into clutches, and the largest size morphs into a messenger bag. Patterns range from whipstitched solids to brightly splattered python, and in February a collection of quilted Baguettes in 10 eye-popping colors will become available. “I wanted to move forward, and I think this is the best way to celebrate a bag that really changed the course of things when minimalism and Prada’s black nylon backpacks were all the rage,” said Baguette creator Silvia Venturini Fendi.