Italian luxury brand's innovation in fur fashion

Another Kind of Art, staged in Beijing for a week and a half till Nov 3, featured 24 fur garments and 16 fur handbags made as early as 1970. The pieces were complemented by interactive screens, artisan demonstrations and video presentations.

In one interview clip, the brand's creative director Karl Lagerfeld talked about proposing to Fendi the idea of "fun fur" after joining the Rome-based fashion house in 1965. Until then, fur garments were conventionally stiff and heavy, relegated to fall and summer wear. The exhibition showcased samples of Lagerfeld's consequent designs, which Vogue has described as "inventive, freewheeling, extravagant": a red suede and Mongolian fur dress (1979), a black tulle kimono with decorations in weasel fur (1997) and a mink coat coated in 24-carat gold (2008).

In the bag section were Fendi's classic baguette, Peekaboo and 2Jours, designed by Silvia Fendi, the granddaughter of the brand's founders Edoardo and Adele Fendi.

Because of Chinese luxury consumers' fast-growing size and sophistication, the Italian company sees them as emerging opinion leaders and not just trend followers.

Industry insiders worldwide take note of what Chinese fashion editors and bloggers write, its CEO Beccari says. "They think this awareness of luxury goes beyond just being potential customers which is an acknowledgment of the Chinese way of living luxuriously."

To mark its anniversary celebration in China, Fendi produced for the domestic market a limited-edition Peekaboo in white mink. The handbag, which comes in only seven pieces, is sold solely at Fendi's store at the Shin Kong Place in Beijing. Its price: 88,000 yuan ($14,430).

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