Fendi, the Italian mega-fashion house, has grown to encompass a small empire, producing ready-to-wear that ranges from haute peasant dresses to futuristic rompers, furs, bags and the Fendi Casa line of furniture. And now Fendi’s new hotel embodies the spirit of Rome, bringing their vision to Roman landmarks including its own Palazzo Fendi, where they opened a jewel-box-size hotel- and its largest store ever- on the site of its historic Palazzo Fendi, on Rome’s Via Condotti. There, the most ardent clients can immerse themselves in the house’s signature opulence, from the red Lepanto marble walls to the Gio Ponti furniture. The challenge then remained to reimagine the Palazzo Fendi, a 17th-century manse that was modified in the 1900s into a home for the aristocratic Boncompagni family before becoming Fendi’s headquarters in 2004. For Palazzo Fendi’s ambitious renovation, they looked to three separate architecture firms, each of which led distinct areas. Japan-based interiors specialist Gwenael Nicolas, who has designed several retail spaces for the house, oversaw the establishment of the massive Fendi store at street level.
On the floor above, the influential Milan-based firm Dimore Studio envisioned Palazzo Privé, a lavish apartment for the use of VIP clients for private fittings and events, while Costanzi designed the boutique hotel, dubbed the Fendi Private Suites. In February, situated on the roof, will be the first Italian outpost of the London-based Japanese restaurant Zuma. As Rome misses a global well-known restaurant, Zuma will bring to Rome a certain caliber that it lacks completely. The hotel is deliberately intimate, with only seven rooms- ranging from $770 to $1,900 per night- each with a slightly different design that incorporates Fendi Casa furniture. Guests enter a vestibule where a dramatic chandelier hangs overhead, like a geometric grid across the ceiling- one of the custom pieces that Dimore Studio created for Fendi’s booth at 2014’s Design Miami fair. As Instagram and the digital age is bringing a lot of transparency to the world of luxury, you cannot hide anymore. People like to plunge into a brand, and offering a lifestyle is offering them the occasion to live the brand to the fullest extent. Some people already go home and watch TV on a Fendi sofa, now they can also go to Rome and sleep in a Fendi hotel.
Tags: Fashion, Fendi Hotel, Interior Design, Rome, Travel
