RCA students take over Fendi's new London store

Fendi has marked the opening of its new Peter Marino-designed store in London’s Sloane Street with works from students from the Royal College of Art’s Design Products course. Seen here in one of the windows is Meret Probst’s ’Starting With a Blank Canvas’, featuring glasses of coloured dye trickling down a large canvas onto hanging white leather bags

(Image credit: press)

By Nick Vinson - Art Direction

last updated 16 October 2022

in News

Fendi has officially moved into its new Peter Marino-designed store in London's Sloane Street. On display next to Karl Lagerfeld's furs and fashion, and Silvia Venturini Fendi's bags, shoes and leather accessories, are works of lesser-known, and rather more local talent: students from the Royal College of Art's Design Products course, who have been given a very open brief by the Rome-based fashion house to do something 'spectacular' with its Selleria line - and that something turns out to be part-performance and part-product.

In Sloane Street, both shop windows have been given over to the students, who were guided by Simon Hasan, one of the original designers handpicked to take part in Fendi's spectacular Craft Punk project back in 2009 (see W*122). Hasan, whose work is now a regular fixture at Fendi stores, was special project tutor at the Royal College of Art (RCA) for this new Fendi exhibition in London, as well as being one of its alumni.

The displays range from large installations like Lola Lely's 'Kinetic Frenetic' low tech/hi-tech machine and Meret Probst's 'Starting With a Blank Canvas' work, to smaller-scale works, such as 'Anatomy of Fendi', a project in three parts that takes on an almost forensic approach in its application.

To find out more about Fendi's collaboration with the RCA students, you will have to turn to our October issue (out now). Here, however, we take you on a tour of the new store and give you a closer look at the students' work.

Machine with rolls of printed leather — Lola Lely's aptly named 'Kinetic Frenetic', a low tech/hi-tech machine that spins one long ribbon of Fendi Selleria leather, coated in a vinyl skin with a multicoloured Futurist pattern

Charlotte Kingsnorth's 'Blown Leather Portals', glass vessels with a leathery skin that conceal Fendi products

A collection of 'Blown Leather Portals' displayed on shelves in the Fendi store

a collection of stools made of layers of wood and leather — Dafi Reis Doron's 'Craft-Tech', a series of CNC-cut stools made of layers of wood veneer and leather

Scientific flasks filled with bright colours displayed on a black table beside shelves of handbags and glasses — Part of the 'Anatomy of Fendi' project, for which Nicholas Wallenberg and Helena Karelson have boiled down Fendi Selleria's colourful skins to produce a pigment to colour flowers displayed on a large table

cream and orange roses displayed to spell out the letter F — The results of Nicholas Wallenberg and Helena Karelson's project spell the letter 'F'

Deconstructed handbag displayed in a taxidermy jar — Samuel Weller and Imme van der Haak have deconstructed Fendi Selleria bags to form creatures encased in taxidermy jars

Table top pices of metal bowls and plates on stands and — Petter Thorne has experimented with various metals to produce these table-top pieces, displayed throughout the shop

Geometric shop dummies on a shop floor displaying clothes — The Royal College of Art students' special project tutor Simon Hasan, one of the original Craft Punkers, is now a regular fixture at Fendi stores, crafting his boiled leather vases live for the 'Fatto a Mano' programme. Pictured here are his geometric dummies

Naked female sitting on a wooden chair with a black padded section shaped like buttocks — Kicking off our showcase of past work by the RCA student collaborators is the 'Hybreed Chair' by Charlotte Kingsnorth. Part of the Hybreed range of chairs, which have evolved from bringing together old furniture frames and fleshy biomorphic forms, each curvaceous creature has been sculpted into a unique character depending on the frame it envelops

Gold coloured contoured window blind — 'Kontuur Window Blind' by Helena Karelson is based on a modern interpretation of traditional Venetian blinds. Instead of straight slats, the Kontuur blind slats are contoured, providing a decorative three dimensional effect and an unusual filtering of light

Tin of Pineapple with real pineapple leaves sitting on the top — '100% Fruit & Vegetables' by Imme van der Haak is a playful comment on the way we buy ‘fresh' fruit and vegetables from high street supermarkets

Red paste shaped like a tomato with a green tomato stem on top

A collection of portraits of models wearing facial jewellery pieces — Imme van der Haak's jewellery collection is based on changing forms and silhouette transformations

Stackable table ware made of white porcelain, glass and hardwood — 'bs_sw' by Meret Probst is a set of stackable tableware made from porcelain, glass and hardwood, which enables diners to create their own mini sculptures

Shop with wooden moveable furniture — Nicholas Wallenberg's 'Book shop', 2010, was designed for London's St Martin's Lane Hotel

Woman looking at a wooden table with plastic parts connecting the legs — 'More Table' Petter Thorne uses plastic cast in cracked wood to create the illusion of furniture parts floating in mid-air

Pale pink plaster cast of a red brick — 'Brick-Slip-Cast' is Sam Weller's proposal of an alternative London souvenir. Says Weller: 'It is the antithesis of the traditional cheap and kitsch products that adorn London's tourist honey pots. The understated brick distills everything an attested souvenir or "memory" should exemplify - durability, honesty and practicality'

Wooden percussion instruments on a bench — Sam Weller's 'Public Resonance' project, inspired by the busking community, allows a performer to directly connect with an audience. By utilising the natural resonance of everyday objects like street furniture, existing architecture or even public transport, various vibrations are both created and amplified by this portable percussive tool kit

Outdoor drinks bar with cooler — 'Cool Bar' by Dafi Reis Doron integrates an outdoor drinks bar with a self-contained cooler. The top portion can be collapsed down to seal the lower portion, preserving the cold temperature of the drinks when not in use

Plastic storage containers with lids in different sizes stacked together — Inspired by the world of cardboard and paper folding, Dafi Reis Doron's 'Envelope Box' is a series of boxes designed to be structurally strong

Wooden bench with metal legs — 'Portion of a Bench' by Dafi Reis Doron has been designed to accommodate different alternating positions

People sitting on a moveable wooden bench with metal legs — 'Portion of a Bench' by Dafi Reis Doron

Wooden cupboard with orange door and drawer fronts — 'Golden Time Cupboard' by Lola Lely challenges the traditional notion of ownership in the classroom, reducing the perceived gap between pupil and teacher. Nine storage boxes hold different toys and games to be distributed at ‘Golden Time'. These boxes give the pupils the possibility of excercising their power of choice, accrued by good behaviour throughout the day

Blue creature shapes with legs — Lola Lely's 'Little Blue Creatures' is a collection of lights designed for children, made from hand formed thermoplastic

ADDRESS

Fendi
181-182 Sloane Street
SW1X 9QP

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Also known as Picky Nicky, Nick Vinson has contributed to Wallpaper* Magazine for the past 21 years. He runs Vinson&Co, a London-based bureau specialising in creative direction and interiors for the luxury goods industry. As both an expert and fan of Made in Italy, he divides his time between London and Florence and has decades of experience in the industry as a critic, curator and editor.