Explainer / How Fendi’s ‘It’ bag, the Baguette, made a comeback: as Kim Kardashian, Zendaya, Gigi Hadid and more celebrities hop on the Y2K fashion trend, the 1997-designed piece is back in the spotlight

Dec 25 , 2023

Bread-inspired bags? Since its debut in 1997, Fendi has launched multiple reissue versions of the Baguette. Photo: @moderngurlz/Instagram

Fendi’s Baguette has been an ‘It’ bag since Silvia Venturini Fendi designed it in 1997 and Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw carried it on Sex and the City – and now Gen Z stars are all over it

Once eclipsed by the Peekaboo, the Baguette made a comeback in 2019 when the brand launched reissue versions like Prada did with its nylon bag collection

In the 1990s, Sex and the City ruled cable TV and Carrie Bradshaw had every woman obsessed with slipping into a pair of toe-crushing Manolo Blahnik stilettos.

The concept of the “It” bag came on the rise at around the same time, and the Fendi Baguette is one of the most emblematic “It” bags featured in the series.

Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw, portrayed by actress Sarah Jessica Parker, carried her Fendi Baguette around New York City in the series. Photo: @nordicpoetry/Instagram

First launched in 1997, the bag represents the history and soul of the brand in every way as Silvia Venturini Fendi, the granddaughter of founders Eduardo and Adele, designed it. The bag was created during Karl Lagerfeld’s long reign over Fendi as artistic director.

Paris Hilton rocking her double F monogrammed Fendi Baguette. Photo: @moderngurlz/Instagram

“I feel that this bag is really a New York bag, because it’s both an evening bag but also a day bag, and in New York you see how night and day often blur. For me, the bag embodies the spirit of New York,” said Silvia Venturini Fendi in a previous interview with SCMP.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Baguette, Silvia Venturini Fendi and Kim Jones moved from Milan to New York Fashion Week to present Fendi’s resort 2023 collection. Photo: Instagram

The inspiration for the bag is unsurprising, given its name. Silvia Venturini Fendi saw something beautiful in the way Parisian women would carry loaves of baguettes under their arms as they strolled through the city. While the house is known for its furs and leathers, the bag took on many different personalities, with the house’s double F monogram being one of the earliest iterations.

Actress Priyanka Chopra carrying her silver Fendi Baguette. Photo: @moderngurlz/Instagram

The bag’s been given different fresh touches over the seasons, including one of the most iconic, Carrie Bradshaw’s blue sequinned rendition.