All images courtesy Fendi
Silvia Venturini Fendi, representing the family that founded the historic Italian luxury fashion house, is known for her support and endless curiosity in collaborating with artists and designers from ‘the outside’, experimenting with their view on the brand and the world. The latest addition to the list is Sarah Coleman, a young visual artist known for combining high luxury with everyday items and producing unique works of art.
Recently, her latest challenge was to redesign Fendi’s iconic Miami Design District boutique. The key element of the collaboration turned out to be the distortions of the logos and prints designed by Karl Lagerfeld, which, surprisingly, were rendered using a phone-app. As a result of this project, Coleman also created three exclusive Peekaboo I See U bags, with one of them being the first to glow in the dark, a feature that had previously been overlooked. Speaking to the artist via Zoom, Coleman, with her big glasses and a little mascot appearing from time to time in the frame, listens carefully, questioning herself. Her answers are confident and genuine.
As part of the project, you went on a ‘tour’ through Fendi’s archive. How was it?
I love [Fendi’s] prints, they’re so iconic and they still have such a strong impact. Initially, I thought I could draw them in a new way or apply something on top of it, but then I realised I could just alter it, giving it something a little new, without changing its DNA. I just started playing with the Facetune app on my phone and then I moved with the flow.
You gave the app some sort of professional dignity.
I think the process to put into practice a concept is what scares people the most. Facetune and apps like this are way more accessible to everyone and I hope this will make people start thinking, “Oh wow, I can make really beautiful things too.”
I can make really beautiful things too.
One of the Fendi limited edition Peekaboo ISeeU bags by Sarah Coleman.
Let’s focus for a moment on redesigning Fendi’s Miami Design District boutique. What aspects did you find most challenging and which obstacles did you face, if any?
I was lucky because my training was with Peter Marino [renowned American architect], who is known for designing luxury boutiques. This helped me a lot – also through mistakes being made – as well as understanding how space works commercially. I think the hardest part is letting go, saying to yourself, “Ok, I’m just gonna do what I can do”, especially in such a situation, with the pandemic and all the physical restrictions related to it. I was scared a little bit. I didn’t know if my vision would have been understood, also because I think that my ideas initially were very out of the box! But this was completely ‘eliminated’ the second I spoke to the team. I had never even seen such a positive attitude, empowering artists to use their creativity with all the possible means and making things feel much more simple.
How did it feel the first time you walked into the store 100% finished?
It was just amazing, I never wanted that feeling to go away! I love the store. I felt so proud of the work I had done. Actually, I think that everyone involved in the project did such a great job, all my ideas were pushed much further by Fendi’s team.
Re-using and upcycling are your trademarks. What inspired you to adopt them?
I love taking things that I see and using them for other purposes. It’s funny because a friend of mine just moved into my studio and she keeps asking me where some of the furniture comes from, but my answer is always the same: “I got that found on the street…”
You know, this is an extremely ‘Berliner’ as a practice!
I love that! It’s sort of a treasure hunt for me. When it comes to damaged designer pieces, the material itself is so high quality that working with it is a really pleasant experience, there is so much that can be done. I love cleaning it up and painting it, taking it from one thing to another. The process is my favorite part, but the moment you see the result can be extremely satisfactory and surprising, even humorous actually.
It’s interesting that you were driven more by a sense of inner curiosity than environmental reasons.
I tend to personify what I find, as if I’m rescuing it, giving it a new life. But actually, it just feels good to reuse stuff rather than buy new. I do it with my clothes too, they are mostly vintage and second-hand. I’m a total supporter of sustainability –and an opponent of waste. Before, there was a general feeling that old was not as good, while now I can show – even to people who collect art and are usually very particular about what they buy – that there is a space for second hand.