FENDI x Lewis Kemmenoe: The 'ænigma' Collection Unveiled at Design Miami/2024
For Design Miami/ 2024, FENDI has invited London-based designer Lewis Kemmenoe to create a new body of work - a unique confluence of the sensibilities of his own practice and those of the distinctly Roman luxury house.
Following a period of research, which included visits to Rome’s museums, botanical gardens and FENDI’s headquarters at Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, as well as the FENDI Factory in the heart of Tuscany's countryside, Kemmenoe presents his ænigma collection. The title is both the Latin word for riddle, or puzzle, but it also has an association in English, in the word ‘enigma’, meaning something hard to understand or explain.
The form of the ænigma collection invites moments of analysis into its production process: here box joints are used as a construction technique, but also as an organic vehicle to integrate the FENDI FF motif; a jacket pattern from the fashion house’s atelier is reimagined into timber patchwork - a staple of Lewis’ work; and the bark of pines trees that permeate Rome are cast into brass and aluminium.
A duality in materiality is evident throughout the collection and within individual pieces, where organic matter, be it timber or stone, is offset in relationship to processed materials such as metal. A pair of FENDI Chairs appear in two different materialities, one predominantly brass, one aluminium.
The collection comprises: two chairs, a cabinet, two wall panels, two lamps, a coffee table, three vessels and a reinterpretation of the iconic Peekaboo Soft bag.
The Peekaboo Soft Medium bag reinterpreted by Lewis Kemmenoe is made of FENDI leathers cut into a jacket pattern from the FENDI artisans, then affixed together and patchworked to emulate a key motif of his work. The hardware carries a further connection, a timber used throughout the aenigma collection forms the internal bar, while silver and brass screws reflect the two prominent metals in the furniture. Upon opening the Peekaboo Soft bag, a hidden wood texture becomes exposed.
MORE ON LEWIS KEMMENOE
Lewis Kemmenoe is a Furniture Designer and Maker, born in Gravesend, Kent and now based in London.
Kemmenoe’s work articulates his desire to produce objects that are functional, but subtly subversive. The form of his work is often dictated by the materials and organic forms that they’re produced from, leading to an intuitive exploration of the act of making.
Having studied for a Bachelors Degree in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins before a Masters Degree in Design at the Royal College of Art, Lewis started producing furniture as his fascination with functional objects grew, drawing on influences from architecture, fashion, and design along the way. Learn more at
lewiskemmenoe.com. @lewiskemmenoe
MORE ON FENDI
The house of FENDI was established by Adele and Edoardo Fendi in Rome in 1925. The opening of the first FENDI boutique – a handbag shop and fur workshop followed. Soon winning international acclaim, FENDI emerged as a brand renowned for its elegance, craftsmanship, innovation and style. Called by the legendary five Fendi sisters, the collaboration with the late Karl Lagerfeld began back in 1965 and lasted 54 years. In 1992 Silvia Venturini Fendi seconded him in the Artistic Direction; in 1994 she is given the direction of Accessories and later of Menswear. In 2000 the LVMH Group acquires FENDI becoming in 2001 its majority shareholder. Appointed in 2020, Kim Jones held the role of Artistic Director of Couture and Womenswear until 2024. Since 2020, Delfina Delettrez Fendi, fourth generation of the Fendi family, is Artistic Director of Jewellery. Today FENDI is synonymous with quality, tradition, experimentation and creativity. Learn more at www.fendi.com @fendi
Pieces Description
FENDI patchwork Club Chair, Gold
1000mm wide x 1100mm deep x 700mm High Brass, dark timber, plywoodClub chair Formed of polished brass and veneered in dark timbers. The patchwork aspect is an arrangement of a jacket pattern from FENDI’s atelier, within the patchwork is a FF logo motif. FENDI patchwork Club Chair, Silver
1000mm wide x 1100mm deep x 700mm High Aluminium, light timber, Plywood A silver version to its gold partner, the silver lounge chair is a conversational piece offset into a different colour way, both of which reference luggage items from the FENDI Archive.
Galleria Cabinet
1390mm wide x 495mm deep x 890 high Alabaster, Sapele, Brass and aluminumA cabinet made from solid Sapele. Box joints anchor the four sides together but also become a vehicle to integrate an interlocking FF logo in a brass and aluminium form. Alabaster fragments are imbedded into the surface, a nod to a prominent material throughout Romes sculptural aspects.
Jacket Pattern Wall Panel 1 Jacket Pattern Wall Panel 2
1000mm wide x 1000mm high x 60mm deep 1250mm wide 1000mm high x 60mm deep Mounted wall panels in aluminium, backlit illuminating burl wood, cut to the shape of a clothing patterns.
Organic formed lamps
Collection of two 570mm wide x 470mm deep x 400mm highBrass and vavona burl570mm wide x 760mm deep x 400mm highAluminum and ash burlA collection of brass and aluminium lamps, structured into organic forms, illuminated through burl wood.
Box joint coffee table
900mm wide x 700 mm deep x 150mm highSapele timber slab with hand sliced edges, affixed together by box joint engaging the interlocking double FF motif
Vessels
230 mm long x 170mm wide x 50mm high170 mm long x 140 mm wide x 140 mm high130 mm long x 170mm wide x 200mm highAlabaster