Every time fashion took inspiration from the French baguette

The baguette, in French tradition, is much more than just a food. It embodies the essence of the daily life of the French, adorning their tables and their outfits as they bring it home. It is a symbol deeply rooted in French culture, so much so that its craftsmanship was officially recognised in November 2018, when the French Ministry of Culture included it in the Inventory of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage, and then in 2022 when UNESCO also added it to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. For this reason, it is hardly surprising that this essential element of French people's daily lives is being reinterpreted. Cooking and fashion, two iconic pillars of French culture. So why not fuse them harmoniously? In 1997, Silvia Venturini, granddaughter of the founders of the Fendi fashion house, Adele and Edoardo Fendi, created the famous Baguette bag. Remember that the shape of the Fendi bag has nothing to do with bread, but was inspired by the way French women carried freshly baked baguettes under their arms, an effortless yet elegant look. Venturini therefore designed a bag that would have the same portability as a loaf of bread, echoing its shape and size. Who would have thought that a design inspired by a French loaf of bread would lead the Italian maison to such great success? Just as twenty-five years ago Fendi made the baguette a key style code for its brand, in recent times several brands have been taking inspiration from the French loaf for their accessories, this time in an increasingly realistic way.

The new Fendi Baguette

Fendi FW23

Fendi FW23

Fendi FW23

The Baguette bag did not immediately capture the public's attention: everything changed when it was used by Sarah Jessica Parker in her iconic role as Carrie Bradshaw in Sex & The City, thus becoming a style icon of the 1990s. For all six seasons of the series, Bradshaw proudly wore this accessory, thus creating a trend to increase the demand for this item. Twenty-five years after its creation, Silvia Venturini, now creative director for men's and children's accessories at Fendi, has boldly undertaken a reinvention of her iconic creation. During the Fendi FW23 fashion show, the models on the catwalk showed a new interpretation of the French baguette, this time made of shearling. The bag, literally shaped like a baguette, is a radical departure from the original. Staying true to his playful approach to accessories, Venturini presented this new bag as a tote as an accessory to be carried under the arm, evoking the Parisian gesture. A touch of ingenuity was added by having the models wear this bag as an umbrella case.

The French baguette according to Amélie Pichard, Moschino and Dauphinette

Other brands have joined the playful trend of reinventing the baguette as a fashion accessory. French designer Amélie Pichard launched the Michard bag in 2019, made of acacia wood with the aim of resembling a baguette and which can be carried on the shoulder thanks to a gold metal chain, while a baguette-shaped clutch bag and even a shoulder bag inspired by croissants appeared during Moschino's FW20 show. The most punk interpretation of the French loaf, however, comes in recent times from the eccentric accessories brand Dauphinette, which amuses its fans on Instagram with the most unexpected versions of the iconic bread shape, covered first with charms and beads, then with studs. Fashion has always played with French dress codes, be it striped sailor shirts or berets, but the reinvention of fundamental elements of French cuisine has proved particularly ingenious. Who knows if the next creative cue won't come again from a Parisian boulangerie, perhaps from pain au chocolat?