Italian Fashion House Fendi Wins Prestigious Award

Nidhi Sharma – Celebrity News Service Reporter

Paris, France (CNS) – Italian fashion house Fendi has won one of France’s most prestigious media awards for its “Great Wall of China” runway show in 2007.

The Roman fashion house that is best known for its “baguette” handbags, won the Grand Prix for “Opérations événementielles, press, relations publiques,” in a ceremony in Paris on Wednesday.

Fendi’s China show beat nearly 260 other entries to grab the first prize.

The show, staged on October 19, 2007, was the first ever on the Great Wall, the world’s largest man-made structure, and featured 88 models, 44 from China and 44 from around the world, on a catwalk 88 meters long – since 8 is a lucky number in Chinese mythology.

The event was organized by “Strategies / Conde Nast de la Communication du Luxe. Strategies is France’s leading advertising trade publication, while Conde Nast is the global magazine stable.

In a press release, the jury said, “This Grand Prix recognizes the best strategies and communications projects by luxury brands in the domain of design.”

The panel of judges consisted of:

Fabio Mancone, Communications Director of Polo Ralph Lauren
Jean Cassegrain, Managing Director of Longchamps
Philippe Shaeffer, Managing Director Rolex; Natalie Rastoin
Managing Director Group Ogilvy France
Antoine Arnault, Communications Director of Louis Vuitton, Fashionwire Daily reports.

It is the first time that a fashion based luxury group has garnered the prestigious award. The two previous winners were Hermes and Louis Vuitton – both accessories based firms.

Winners of the other categories include Givenchy, who won the prize for best packaging for its Le Soin Noir by CBA Designs; Chanel who nabbed the first for its website and Vuitton grabbed the award for best publishing project for its highly respected City Guides.