Fendi's golden gadgets are glamorous stocking fillers

Chances are this year, your handbag has taken a back seat in your outfit organisation. Life during lockdown hasn’t called for a voluminous tote or an oversized shoulder bag. Instead, when popping to pick up essentials, to take a Zoom call au naturel, or to embark on a hasty jog, an iPhone, Air Pods and a slender credit card holder have sufficed.

‘Perhaps the smart earphones case,’ muses Fendi creative director Silvia Venturini Fendi on her favourite piece in the Roman label’s luxurious A/W 2020 collection of tech jewellery gadgets, created in collaboration with accessories label Chaos. ‘Many people are working from home and are in contact via Zoom calls and FaceTime; the case is a practical yet a great accessory to have right now and to use every day.’

Despite being designed before the Covid-19 pandemic took control of our everyday activities, the Fendi x Chaos collection provides a precise and elegant answer to our streamlined and digital-first accessory needs. Other utilitarian accoutrements? A smart phone stylus which doubles up as a drop earring, a set of fold out shot glasses for a tipple on-the-go, a lighter to spark a calming scented candle, and a host of gilded iPhone holders, which can be clipped as charms hands-free onto a waistbelt or lanyard or hooked onto a bag. A selection of these items are available exclusively at Harrods.

Fendi's A/W 2020 offering was an ode to the modern femme fatale, splicing ladylike Forties silhouettes with flourishes of flesh and futuristic fabrics. ‘We began with the idea of this elegant, sensual and powerful woman,’ explain Chaos’ Charlotte Stockdale & Katie Lyall, who have worked with Fendi for 12 years, including alongside Karl Lagerfeld during his creative tenure at the house. ‘We created accessories that would bridge the nostalgic romance of her look to the reality of the new digital world we live in.’

Lyall and Stockdale are well versed with the needs of the online world. Chaos, which launched in 2016, is famed for its monogrammed phone cases, beaded phone straps and zip-inspired lanyards, which have cult status on fashion’s front row. For Fendi’s offering, Chaos and Venturini Fendi have nodded to nostalgic objets of the past, like vintage cigarette cases and gilded powder cases, bringing a modern update to haute hardware. ‘The Apple watch holder harks back to a gentleman’s pocket watch,’ Stockdale and Lyall add.

‘The pieces combine a charismatic spirit with functional designs that I can really connect with,’ Venturini Fendi says. They enable to you to plug into today's online-centric, hands-free world with a punch of pizzazz.

INFORMATION

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