Adele Fendi

Adele Fendi, born Adele Casagrande, was an Italian entrepreneur and co-founder of Fendi. In 1925 she and her husband, Edoardo Fendi, opened a fur and leather workshop on Rome’s Via del Plebiscito, establishing the family business that took their surname. The workshop became the basis of a house known first for leather goods and fur.

After Edoardo’s death in 1954, Adele continued the company with their five daughters, Paola, Anna, Franca, Carla and Alda, who assumed distinct responsibilities across the business. The sisters brought Karl Lagerfeld to Fendi in 1965, beginning the long collaboration that later reshaped the house’s fur and ready-to-wear. Adele remained involved during this generational transition, sustaining the family enterprise as management passed to the next generation.