Webwatch Article
November 15, 2004
http://www.brandchannel.com/features_webwatch.asp?ww_id=202

Fendi — offending

There’s nothing like a bag with a double ‘F’ logo lining to send a girl into a tailspin. Carrying a Fendi is considered a fashion rite of passage—a welcome into the world of high style and status.

Ten years ago, Fendi had few retail locations and product distribution through only the toniest of department stores, cultivating an air of exclusivity for the brand. It wasn’t until 1989 that the first US store opened (the New York flagship).

But since the brand was sold to conglomerate LVMH almost four years ago, Fendi stores have increased in number from four to a staggering 85 locations around the world in 2000 and 2001 alone.

Traditionally, an aggressive worldwide expansion translates into increased product accessibility. Creative product line transfusions coupled with a conservative approach to branding initiatives have helped Fendi dodge any flavor-of-the-month pitfalls, successfully upholding their well-to-do élan.

A brand of somewhat humble beginnings, Eduardo and Adele Fendi opened their first small handbag shop and fur annex in Rome after World War I and, in due time, each of their five daughters joined the family business. In the mid-1960s, designer Karl Lagerfeld began his 20-plus year collaboration with the brand; his considerable contributions include turning Fendi fur into high fashion and creating the famous “double F” logo. Today, the Fendi double F graces the labels of more than just bags and fur—it’s on ready-to-wear men’s and women’s clothing and numerous accoutrements like scarves, ties, jeans, pens, gloves, glasses and home furnishings. We recently paid a visit to Fendi.com to see if the brand maintains the same luxurious sensibility online.

When visitors first click on Fendi.com, they can choose to view the site in either English or Italian. The site operates from a base that launches each section into a pop-up window, which might cause problems for visitors who have blockers up. Even though the site supplies a load barometer, each section takes a few seconds to load, which can be as exciting and glamorous as watching grass grow.

The look and feel of the site maintains Fendi’s trademark gold and brownish-black color scheme, and is colored with lush product shots and campaign images that fade in and out.

One stand out section is the Fall/Winter 2005 fashion show area. When it finally loads, a rollover feature highlights runway images that viewers can click on to get a closer look. Each item is listed by serial number for easy reference. There are also options to view the images collectively as a slide show, check out a streaming version of the entire show, print the images or e-mail them to a friend. Most pages are printable, which is a handy feature. Customers in the US can purchase limited products through eLuxury.com.

For a fashion brand, showcasing the product is of the utmost importance and Fendi.com does a fair job of this. But the other site areas are underdeveloped, and users are left with little else to do. The remaining features fulfill practical reference needs like the Boutiques area, which provides contact information to each Fendi storefront organized by country. The News link is probably intended to send viewers to a public relations/store openings page, but for some reason it wouldn’t open during site review and we were left with nothing but a black page and a seemingly dysfunctional up and down button.

For a brand that takes pride in its quality products, Fendi.com short changes viewers overall. Its look and feel are certainly on brand, but there are too many underdeveloped content areas, excessive pop-ups and loading glitches. It’s way too tripped up by flashy bells and whistles and short on substance to adequately reflect the brand’s reputation. Perhaps if the folks at Fendi approached their site with the same craftsmanship and attention to detail as their products, Fendi.com would be worthy of a double F for Fendi, as opposed to a single F for fail.

Vivian Manning-Schaffel is a freelance writer who lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

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