Fendi Casa's new sofa turns the brand's logo into three-dimensional elements
‘F-Affair’ sofa, by Controvento for Fendi Casa is among our Salone del Mobile 2024 highlights, featured in May Wallpaper*, on sale 11 April
Olmo R. Roces - Art Direction
Up until Karl Lagerfeld joined the brand in 1965, the Fendi logo showed a squirrel sitting on a walnut tree branch, a symbol of the hard-working founder Edoardo Fendi, who was said to be as busy as a squirrel by his wife Adele. Initially tasked with modernising the brand’s fur line, Lagerfeld apparently drew the brand’s new interlocking ‘FF’ logo on a piece of paper in just a few seconds (the letters stand for ‘fun furs’).
The logo instantly became a symbol of luxury and of the fashion-forward brand around the world. It has since featured on everything from a jacquard fabric used to line travel trunks, to trainers and, famously, a variety of belt buckles, and even formed the main motif of an entire collection in 2018. More recently, it also inspired Peter Mabeo’s ‘Efo’ coffee table. Now an iconic piece of the Fendi Casa collection, it is being reintroduced this year in a palladium and light grey version.
Read the Wallpaper* guide to what to see at Salone Del Mobile and Milan Design Week 2024
Revisiting the play of two rounded and organic Fs which began with Mabeo’s table, the Roman fashion house’s new ‘F-Affair’ sofa byControvento turns the double Fs into the three-dimensional elements of a modular seating system comprising a corner piece, a central piece, an ottoman and a chaise longue.
The giant F-shaped upholstered pieces interlock perfectly, and can be combined at will to fit any space. We particularly like this off-white version, in micro bouclé and white shearling, with the pale upholstery really allowing the letter-shaped elements to shine through, but the sofa will be available in any of the colour and material options offered by Fendi Casa’s exhaustive textile collection.
Fendi Casa,
Piazza della Scala
Milan
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Léa Teuscher is a Sub-Editor at Wallpaper*. A former travel writer and production editor, she joined the magazine over a decade ago, and has been sprucing up copy and attempting to write clever headlines ever since. Having spent her childhood hopping between continents and cultures, she’s a fan of all things travel, art and architecture. She has written three Wallpaper* City Guides on Geneva, Strasbourg and Basel.
-
The return of the bullhead: the watch design that refuses to conformLittle known outside of watch circles, but enthusiastically collected within them, bullhead watches have always been divisive. Identified by the crown at 12 o’clock, it made design sense – no digging into the wrist, allowing easier function as a stopwatch - but remains a speciality. But now, the bullhead is back
-
Tour Peridot, Hong Kong’s hypnotic new barLocated on the 38th floor of The Henderson, Studio Paolo Ferrari’s latest project is a study in ‘light, refraction, and intimacy’
-
Lighting designer Andi Watson on creating Mitski’s sculptural stage for 'The Land'In Mitski’s live show and new concert film, a single beam of light becomes her dance partner. Lighting designer Andi Watson discusses turning shadow, movement and restraint into the architecture of feeling
-
20 emerging designers shine in our ‘Material Alchemists’ filmWallpaper’s ‘Material Alchemists’ exhibition during Milan Design Week 2025 spotlighted 20 emerging designers with a passion for transforming matter – see it now in our short film
-
Delve into the Wallpaper* Design Directory 2025, on sale nowIn the July issue of Wallpaper*, find a photographic love letter to Milan Design Week, plus the best new furniture, lighting, kitchens, bathrooms and more
-
Tokyo design studio We+ transforms microalgae into coloursCould microalgae be the sustainable pigment of the future? A Japanese research project investigates
-
Delvis (Un)Limited turns a Brera shopfront into a live-in design installationWhat happens when collectible design becomes part of a live performance? The Theatre of Things, curated by Joseph Grima and Valentina Ciuffi, invited designers to live with their work – and let the public look in
-
Naoto Fukasawa sparks children’s imaginations with play sculpturesThe Japanese designer creates an intuitive series of bold play sculptures, designed to spark children’s desire to play without thinking
-
Inside the Shakti Design Residency, taking Indian craftsmanship to Alcova 2025The new initiative pairs emerging talents with some of India’s most prestigious ateliers, resulting in intricately crafted designs, as seen at Alcova 2025 in Milan
-
Faye Toogood comes up roses at Milan Design Week 2025Japanese ceramics specialist Noritake’s design collection blossoms with a bold floral series by Faye Toogood
-
6:AM create a spellbinding Murano glass showcase in Milan’s abandoned public shower stallsWith its first solo exhibition, ‘Two-Fold Silence’, 6:AM unveils an enchanting Murano glass installation beneath Piscina Cozzi