Catwalk on the wall

Fendi set a new standard by unveiling its spring-summer collection on top of the Great Wall of China

IF there is life on other planets, and if that life is interested in fashion, then chances are next summer drapey jersey dresses in pale blues, soft greens and a splash of red will be a hit in outer space.

These are the dominant styles in the spring-summer 2008 collection from the Italian label Fendi, which were paraded last Friday on what is supposedly the only man-made structure that can be seen from outer space.

That's right, a section of the 2000-year-old Great Wall of China was transformed into a giant catwalk for Fendi.

It was an extravaganza that took more than a year to prepare.

Members of the international media and a handful of Hollywood celebrities (Kate Bosworth, Thandie Newton and Chinese actor Ziyi Zhang) were flown to Beijing to witness what the company called a once-in-a-lifetime fashion presentation. Then there were the 88 models flown in for the show, the 80 Fendi staff members and 10 seamstresses. Also in attendance were the label's designers, Karl Lagerfeld and Sylvia Venturini Fendi. As were Bernard Arnault, chairman of the brand's parent company LVMH, Fendi chief executive Michael Burke and a host of other LVMH top brass.

Also present were three of the five Fendi sisters, Anna, Franca and Carla, who turned the small handbag and fur business their parents started in 1925 into a leading force infashion.

The lobby of the Grand Hyatt hotel in Beijing was Fendi-fied with the installation of furniture from the Fendi Casa range and a giant steel sculpture of the brand's double-F logo greeted guests outside the hotel. Lagerfeld's suite had been remodelled for his arrival, with walls knocked down to make way for more Fendi Casa furniture. Even the key cards for the hotel rooms had been given the Fendi treatment and rebranded in the company's signature yellow.

No one involved in the event was willing to put a figure on the cost, except to say that it represented a significant investment for the brand. Women's Wear Daily came up with an estimate of more than $US10 million ($11.24 million).

Intriguingly, the event was not tied to the opening of a new store in China, where the brand is experiencing phenomenal growth: up to 100 per cent a year, according to a report in WWD.

Fendi opened its first store in China in 1999 and now operates 10 stores in the country, including two in Beijing. The company plans to open a new boutique every year. China is the third biggest Asian market for the Fendi brand after Hong Kong and South Korea. According to a report in WWD, Burke estimates that it will be No2 within 18 months. In global terms, Chinese consumers are the fourth biggest market for the brand after Italians, Americans and the Japanese. (The size of the Japanese market is so large that luxury goods companies do not include it as part of the Asia-Pacific region.)

Retail figures from China's commerce ministry reveal that consumption is expanding in the country across the board. Retail expenditure in the so-called Golden Week holiday period from October 1 to 8 (celebrating the founding of the People's Republic) this year jumped by 16 per cent more than the same period last year, with consumers spending nearly 350 billion yuan ($52billion). Small wonder, then, that Arnault was treated like a rock star when he arrived at a cocktail party at the foot of the Great Wall, where many Chinese socialites rushed up to touch the hem of his garment.

Lagerfeld and Venturini Fendi, on the other hand, received merely a standing ovation as they took their bows at the end of the collection show.

Lagerfeld started working with the Fendi in 1965 and helped the brand to branch out from handbags and fur into ready-to-wear. He is credited with designing the double-F logo, which was projected across the hills surrounding the Great Wall at the Juyongguan Pass, where the show was held.

Venturini Fendi, the daughter of Anna Fendi, entered the family business in 1987 to create a new line aimed at a younger clientele. At present she is responsible for accessories and menswear, and is credited with inventing the Baguette handbag that became an instant hit 10 years ago.

"I think this is the first fashion show visible from the moon," Arnault said as he arrived at the event with his wife and with Christian Dior chief executive Sidney Toledano. "It's a big sign that China is the place where things are happening."

Countless fashion shows and events have been organised at the foot of the wall in recent years but, according to the organisers, this is the first time such an event has been staged on top of the wall.

As well as the raked catwalk, the company had installed disco lights on the section of the wall that went up the mountain behind the catwalk.

The Great Wall was erected in the 5th century BC as a barrier against enemies and is seen as a powerful symbol linking ancient and modern China.

The significance of the Fendi event's timing was not lost on the organisers: Beijing's profile will get a big international boost because of the 2008 Olympic Games. China was therefore keen to demonstrate that it could handle large-scale international events. A press release from Fendi hinted as much, saying that "as China prepares for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the nation is opening its doors to visitors and ideas from all over the world".

Although Fendi executives repeatedly stressed to visiting journalists that the Great Wall show was an international event and not just about the local market, there was no mistaking the nods to Chinese culture.

For the Beijing event, Lagerfeld expanded the collection he had shown a few weeks earlier in Milan and based many of the new looks on a circle motif, a Chinese symbol of happiness. The presence of an imperial red in some of the dresses and on Baguette tassels was a definite ode to the surroundings. And there were 88 models who strolled down the 88m catwalk: the number eight is a symbol of prosperity in Chinese culture.

The expanded collection will be available in Fendi stores worldwide as the second part of the brand's spring-summer delivery.

The Great Wall event was also an attempt by LVMH to elevate Fendi into the league of what Arnault calls star brands.

It will take some time before Fendi approaches the size of other LVMH brands such as Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton, but Burke tells WWD he expects Fendi to reach the $500 million threshold next year.

The Great Wall event is bound to enhance image of the Fendi brand.

However, picking a venue for the autumn-winter could pose a bit of a problem. Because, as Lagerfeld pointed out in Beijing, "if you just have a white wall with a girl walking in front of it, nobody would look at it".

David Meagher travelled to Beijing as a guest of Fendi Australia.