Fendi’s debut high jewellery collection spotlighting the Roman maison’s iconic yellow is spearheaded by Delfina Delettrez Fendi, the great-granddaughter of founders Adele and Edoardo Fendi
Delfina Delettrez Fendi has become a gem in her own right in the global jewellery industry. Growing up in the world of high fashion, the 35-year-old decided to break the family mould and forge a new path, with gold, diamonds, and precious stones serving as its foundation. Her efforts, in collaboration with Kim Jones, Fendi’s artistic director, and her mother, Silvia Venturini Fendi, have resulted in the launch of the Fendi high jewellery collection this year, the maison’s first since it was founded in 1925.
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Tell us about the inspiration behind, and challenges of the Fendi high jewellery launch.
I started working on this parure, which marks Fendi’s debut in high jewellery, approximately one year ago. A big challenge was finding stones with the right intensity of colour and the right shape for an emerald. Yellow, the iconic Fendi colour, was a key ingredient in the jewellery design. The parure is in fact named Flavus after the [Latin] term for yellow; I spent almost a year hunting for a set of exceptional diamonds with a subtle orange cast to suggest the colour of a sunset in Rome.
How has Fendi’s DNA been translated to the collection?
For me, the FF logo is almost my family crest. I wanted to use the logo in a subtle way, almost as a hidden code. I really wanted to work with the concept of purity and lightness, and I wanted the pieces to be meaningful and evocative. There is nothing more evocative than the diamond, and there is nothing more meaningful at Fendi than the yellow.
What do you see as the most important elements of this collection?
Movement is important; comfort is fundamental. Subtle, whispered luxury is what I’m attracted to: the cascade of stones on the earrings and necklace are meant to evoke a Roman fountain. I like the white diamond’s absence of colour; this very strong stone fascinates me. The gold that I use is recycled gold: it’s pivotal, it’s added value, and it’s something that the younger generation appreciate especially.
