Paola Fendi

Paola Fendi is an Italian fashion executive and fur specialist, the eldest of Adele and Edoardo Fendi’s five daughters. She entered the family business in 1946 and became the sister most closely associated with the technical development of fur, overseeing tanning, dyeing and material experimentation as the house moved beyond conservative mid-century outerwear.

Her work formed a crucial part of the system behind Karl Lagerfeld’s appointment in 1965. Lagerfeld supplied rapid visual propositions, while Paola and the Roman workshops tested how fur could be lightened, coloured, sheared and reconstructed. This technical authorship helped turn “Fun Fur” from a slogan into a viable material programme and made Fendi’s ateliers central to the house’s international identity.

Paola Fendi approached design through material behaviour. Her domain was not the isolated sketch but the chain of tanning, cutting, dyeing and assembly required to make a heavy pelt move like cloth. That work demanded both experimentation and control: unfamiliar colour, reduced weight and flexible construction could only succeed if the workshop retained precision.

Her contribution demonstrates why Fendi’s history cannot be reduced to the name of an external creative director. The visual change associated with Lagerfeld depended on Paola’s technical command and on her willingness to challenge the conventions of the fur trade from inside the family business.