Invitations for the show came in the form of exquisite accordion-style leather-bound, saddle-stitched photo albums, with tiny black and white portraits showing a five-year-old Silvia , and a 1960s snap of her mother, Anna, and her four sisters Paola, Franca, Carla and Alda, magnificently beehived in the Rome atelier.
The twins’ jewellery designer mother, Delfina, designed the snake chain bracelets and shimmering fountain earrings in the show; their grandmother, Silvia, artistic director of accessories and menswear, presided over the evening as master of ceremonies.
The Fendis celebrated 100 years in fashion with a show that began with a cameo by Dardo and Tazio, 7-year-old great-great-grandsons of house founders Edouardo and Adele.
The catwalk was carpeted in the brick red shade that Silvia remembers from the Rome atelier where her mother, Anna, worked when she was little.
This night was both business – over a thousand guests, more than a hundred new outfits which will soon be on sale, a stellar cast including iconic British models Yasmin Le Bon, 60, and Penelope Tree, 75 – and sentiment.
