RETURNING to its most rebellious shape for Autumn/ Winter 2026, Fendi celebrates the Baguette with a new campaign that proves some icons only get louder with time.
Iris Law and Emma D’Arcy for Fendi
It was the late 1990s, and minimalism had the floor. The Baguette took one look at the clean lines and monochromatic quiet of the moment and decided, loudly and unapologetically, to do something else entirely. Small enough to tuck under an arm, big enough to carry a personality, it arrived in bold colour, vivid craft and experimental materials as a direct rebuke to the aesthetic of its time. Not a bag. Never just a bag.
That spirit is very much alive in Fendi’s new campaign, shot by Bibi Borthwick to Addison Rae’s Fame is a Gun. Sarah Jessica Parker, Bang Chan, Emma D’Arcy, Song Yuqi, Sophie Thatcher, Jessica Alba, Ren Meguro, Iris Law, Tecla Insolia and MINA each chose their own Baguette — the one that best represented them, at least in that moment — and Borthwick let them move. The result is intimate and spontaneous in the way that only happens when a photographer steps back and lets personality lead.
Mina and Bang Chan for Fendi
The declarations that emerged say everything: it’s my attitude, it’s controlled chaos, it’s family, it’s history. And then, inevitably, the line that started it all: it’s not a bag, it’s a Baguette. Under the creative direction of Maria Grazia Chiuri for her first Fendi collection, the Baguette returns to its original silhouette and style code 26424 for Autumn/ Winter 2026, launching worldwide on July 16. Some icons do not need reinventing. They just need to be returned.
by Ellis Dowle