Oh how much I love these little witty creatures! Did you know that its already 2 years ago that Karl Lagerfeld created these cute monster fur balls called Fendi Bag Bugs for the first time? I liked them immediately. They reminded me of my childhood when I loved to pick a plush toy charm from Nici, a German brand that is very popular for doing a lot of incredibly cute plush toys, to attach it to my school backpack as a lucky charm. When it started to get torn by carrying it around I put it inside the backpack, but it stayed. In many ways the Fendi Bag Bugs represented a deluxe version of that lucky charm for me. So the idea is great isn’t it! It catches our attention with those childhood memories and puts them in the context of our grown up world! But was it enough to make Fendi bag bugs last?
In the punk inspired fall 2013 collection the Fendi Bag Bugs stood out. In September 2013 they hit stores and were a huge success. Two month later the next version, cruise 2014, hit stores. It lacked the heavy eyebrows of its predecessor and had a slightly different eye geometry.
Than in March 2014 a Swarowsky crystal eyed version appeared with the summer collection.
For pre-fall 2014 the next style came.
In July Fendi launched a big campaign advertising the so called “Karlito” charm, a doll sized punk Karl Lagerfeld look alike that had been carried down the brands fall 2014 runway by model of the moment Cara Delevigne. Is this the continuation of the Fendi bag bug for fall 2014? I suddenly felt no innovation no connection with childhood memories just a translation of the philosophy of Karl Lagerfeld’s namesake label Karl into Fendi language. But how can this work? Karl brand plays around the icon Karl Lagerfeld it targets very young clients, who like the cult around the person. But Fendi? To be honest only few people know that Fendi is designed by Karl Lagerfeld. The client is more grown up and unlikely to carry a huge Karl Lagerfeld doll around.
Than for cruise 2015 the Fendi creative team hybridized the initial bag bugs and gave them the punk hair of the Karl Lagerfeld doll.
For spring finally Fendi gives a lot of choices. There will be bag bugs and a mini version of the Karl doll.
Seems that Fendi really takes care of its Bag Bugs. They try hard to reinterpret them with each new season. I feel thats great because it gives all who have splurged on an item a good feeling. A feeling that shows we do not only have to like our purchase because its in fashion, a pieces of the moment, but that we can like it because it is made to stay for longer and that the brand is trying to ensure that.
So what do you think about the Fendi bag bugs? Do you still like them? Do you like that Fendi is launching a new version each season or do you feel that they become too ubiquitous?