Fendi works hand-in-hand with renowned Australian textile artist Natalie Miller
There are fewer designs more iconic than the Italian fashion house’s Baguette. Now, it’s being reimagined with a local twist.
There are fewer designs more iconic than the Fendi Baguette. First envisioned by the Roman house’s artistic director of accessories and menswear, Silvia Venturini Fendi, in 1997, the piece quickly became part of fashion lore, thanks in no small part to Carrie Brawshaw and her oft-recited line, “it’s not a bag, it’s a Baguette”.
Today, the Baguette endures, not only for its status, but for the constant reinvention it has experienced under Fendi’s ‘hand-in-hand’ initiative. First envisioned in 2020 in Italy to partner with, and showcase the skill of, its artisans, the project soon went global, travelling to USA, Japan, China, Madagascar, and Scotland and to present the instantly recognisable canvas to diverse group of ateliers and workshops so that they may apply their local art practice to the piece. Its latest destination? Our very own backyard.
Finding its latest collaborator in East Kangaloon, nestled within New South Wales’ Southern Highlands region, Fendi has this year partnered with textile artist Natalie Miller, who was tasked with bringing her woven art to the Baguette’s silhouette.
Bringing local traditions to the world stage, Miller’s vibrant tapestries, handcrafted from hand-dyed Australian Merino wool, represent the time honoured practice of yarnwork. Working with the Nundle Woollen Mill — one of few operators left in Australia that mills its own wool, and who has committed itself to producing contemporary yarns using historic techniques — Miller looks to centuries-old traditions to create her works. Spending two years immersed in the study of tapestry at Australia’s oldest design institution, Sturt Gallery & Studios, Miller brought her learnings back to her studio, her creative sanctuary and the inspiring setting which backdropped her creation of the new Fendi ‘hand-in-hand’ Baguette.
Miller’s Baguette is a testament to quintessentially Australian design as well as the artist’s rarified skill. Using luxuriously soft Australian Merino wool sourced from Tasmania, and featuring an impressive mix of techniques including the continuous rya knot, an exquisite technique taken from her studies, Miller is a master at work in creating the ‘hand-in-hand’ Baguette. But despite the recognisability of her body of work — one centred on grand scale and bright colour — the artist opted to take a slight departure from her signature work in her design.
Taking a more delicate approach with a gentler palette of neutrals, the colourscape of Miller’s design was meticulously chosen to reflect the Southern Highlands’ patchwork fields and golden sunsets. Even more emblematic of local practices is Miller’s wool dyeing process — she sources local flora and the leaves and bark of the scribbly gum tree native to the east coast of Australia, and colours the yarn by hand over an open flame. Dried over many days, wound, and then woven on a loom using traditional techniques, this ancient artisanal process is honoured in every aspect of the Baguette’s design.
Blending Fendi’s signatures like the monogram buckle — here, rendered in buttery beige painted leather — and modern touches like silver palladium accents, with Miller’s centuries-old methods and highly dimensional, plush designs, the new Fendi ‘hand-in-hand’ Baguette is a veritable objet d’art, a living portrait that brings together two tales of local craftsmanship from Italy to Australia.
