Carla Fendi (July 12, 1937 – June 19, 2017) was an Italian fashion executive and philanthropist who worked for

Fendi Fendi () is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house producing fur, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, fragrances, eyewear, timepieces and accessories. Founded in Rome in 1925, Fendi is known for its fur, fur accessories, and leather goods. ...

, along with her sisters and parents. She was also well known for her philanthropy.

Biography

Carla Fendi was born on July 12, 1937 to Edoardo and Adele Fendi. She had four sisters, Paola, Anna, Franca and Alda. She was married to Candido Speroni, but did not have any children. In the 1950s, Carla started working with her sisters for

, the family's shop that Edoardo and Adele had begun in 1925. The sisters built the company from a small shop to a globally recognized brand with multiple product lines. After their father died, they opened their own version of the Fendi store in 1964, and a year later hired a young

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer. He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...

to change the brand's image. Starting in 1965, the brand's bags, furs and scarves became a hit in Hollywood. In October 1984, she responded to the scandal over the tagline used by Fendi at a show, "shaped to be raped", an idea initially suggested by Lagerfeld. In 1987, she extended the brand's product lines with the release of Fendi perfumes. In 1989, she inaugurated the NY store, the first of the brand outside of Rome to hold all of Fendi's products. While Carla's sisters concentrated on design, her own focus was upon promotion and marketing. She became the president and public face of the design house. Though the controlling share of Fendi was sold to

LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French holding multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house ...

in 2001, Carla Fendi remained president of the company until 2008, and remained honorary president for her lifetime. Italy's minister of culture, Dario Franchescini, described her as a major patron of the arts.Barry, Colleen and Daniella Petroff
Carla Fendi, philanthropist and fashion force, dies at 79
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The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

'' June 20, 2017. Her philanthropic arm, the Carla Fendi Foundation, was the major patron for the recent restoration of Rome's famed

Trevi Fountain The Trevi Fountain ( it, Fontana di Trevi) is an 18th-century fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini and several others. Standing high and wide, it is the larg ...

. The Foundation did also restore the Teatro Caio Melisso in Spoleto in 2010. After her husband died in November 2013, her health deteriorated. After a long illness, she died in Rome on June 19, 2017, at the age of 79.

References

1937 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Italian businesswomen Italian philanthropists Fendi 20th-century philanthropists {{Italy-business-bio-stub