Kim Jones and Marc Jacobs create a Fendi Baguette Bonanza

"I really thought she would live to be 100, I don't know why", said Fendi womenswear designer Kim Jones, who was made an Officer of the Order of British Fashion in 2020, speaking just hours after the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday.

Then with that proverbial stiff upper lip, it was onto the job at hand.

Fendi is one of many European brands boosting New York Fashion Week this season, hosting a full-scale fashion show and clothing collection to a packed Hammerstein ballroom on Friday night to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the iconic Baguette bag, introduced in 1997.

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Also following the money from the growing US luxury market, Marni took her show on the road, while Givenchy, Courrèges, Kiton and Isabel Marant toast the new Stateside stores with dinners and parties. Munich-based luxury e-commerce site MyTheresa also planted a flag at New York Fashion Week, hosting a lunch for Gabriela Hearst and celebrating the overall rise in US sales of 110% over the past year. and a half.

Texas and Florida may be the hottest US retail markets right now , but New York Fashion Week is the perfect place to opt for media heat, which is why Fendi chose it to relaunch the Baguette business. New York put the Fendi bag on the pop culture map, thanks to an appearance in the original series "Sex and the City".

So, of course, Sarah Jessica Parker was at the show — with Kim Kardashian, Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista and a bunch of other notables - and even created his own custom version of the Wand.

To foster a "downtown New York vibe," Jones called on his hero of lifelong fashion and the former boss of Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs.

Jacobs has created a collection within the collection, using his love of logomania to play with the Fendi moniker on Baguettes, and designing 10 looks in the spirit of its current exploration of historical romance and the streets.

Jones has also teamed up with iconic New York jeweler Tiffany & Co., newly added to the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Family of Brands, on Tiffany Blue Baguettes with silver charms, and a handmade solid sterling silver Baguette resembling a jewel itself, for the ultimate collector's item.

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That connection was a coincidence, more or less, Jones said, explaining how he got there realize when opening the Fendi store on Fifth Avenue, opposite the Tiffany flagship store, that the Baguette is not just a bag, but a diamond cut.

"I wanted to combine these three things, and it's quite playful and festive", a-t -he said about the Fendi, Marc Jacobs, Tiffany trifecta prepare the bingeable looks.

"There are a lot of depressing things going on in the world so I thought this was good to have a little fun,” he said, showing a new gum-sized Tiffany diamond on his finger.