Fendi’s Latest Hand In Hand Baguette Lands Down Under With Textile Artist Natalie Miller

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Since 2020, Fendi has partnered with local artisans around the world as part of its Hand in Hand initiative. Highlighting the House’s iconic Baguette bag—initially designed in 1997 by Silvia Venturini—the collaborative project calls upon a diverse group of ateliers to reinterpret the silhouette in unique renderings. In seeing the Baguette through the lens of artists, the bag’s timeless construction becomes a canvas of transformation, becoming a veritable object d’art.

This year, the Italian luxuriate lands in Australia, tapping the creative vision of textile artist Natalie Miller.

From East Kangaloon in the Southern Highlands, Miller has garnered an international fanbase for her vibrant wool tapestries handcrafted from Australian merino wool. Inspired by the landscapes surrounding her countryside studio, Miller’s coveted creations are lauded for preserving time-honoured techniques, a passion shared by Fendi’s legacy of traditional craftsmanship.

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For her Hand in Hand design, Miller channels quintessential Australian design, employing Australian Merino wool sourced from a local farm in Tasmania, which is then processed using machines dating back to the early 1900s at Nundle Woollen Mill in New South Wales—one of the remaining mills in Australia that still mills its own wool.

She takes a more demure approach with neutrals that contrast her typical bold colour palette, reflecting the patchwork fields and golden sunsets of the Southern Highlands. To achieve this, the wool is hand-coloured over an open flame, using organic inks found in local flora and the leaves and bark of the native gum tree. The wool is then left to dry for several days before it is set upon and hound-wound in preparation for the loom, where it is formed into tabby weaves, tassels and rya knots.

From the body of the bag to the shoulder strap, the reimagined Baguette is an ode to traditional craft, a passion held by the House that spawned the Hand in Hand initiative.

With this latest creation, Miller’s distinctive techniques are celebrated, along with the heritage of Australia, while details like the internal lining’s double F motif, a buttery beige leather handle and painted buckle cement the spirit of Fendi.