Fendi’s runway show on the Great Wall of China

Posted by Helen Lee at 10:13 pm October 21st, 2007 | 0 comments

Check out the amazing photos from the fashion show Fendi held on Friday on the Great Wall of China. The 1,500 mile, four thousand year old wall was the amazing backdrop to Fendi making an illustrious catwalk debut in the world’s latest growth market.

“We’ve worked very hard for one year to prepare the collection,” designer Silvia Fendi told Reuters. “Where do we go after? Maybe the moon. Why not? I feel like we have succeeded in doing something that was really a dream.”

For the show (check out the video below), creative director, Karl Lagerfeld said he “played with circles” to create the combination of arcs and symmetry symbolizing harmony.

“I experimented with the cuts and prints to achieve a graceful effect that would look good on Chinese models,” he told Reuters, explaining his “circle” theme.

The runway show featured 88 models teeter on high heels along the raised platform runway to Euro-Trance music, with 500 special guests seated along the Great Wall which was lined in spotlights and decorated with the iconic Fendi logo. Kate Bosworth, Thandie Newton and Zhang ZiYi were the three of the celebrity guests present at the glamorous event present at the Italian brand’s push into China’s booming economy.

One could call the event extravagant in a country with millions of people struggling to feed their families and put roofs over their heads, but photos sure are amazing. On a different note, can you believe Lagerfeld has been with Fendi for 47 years and was the one who came up with the inverted F Fendi logo?

He has been making the most of his time in China, photographing fashion shoots for Chinese Vogue and all 19 editions of Elle magazine. According to WWD, he is also the first person to photograph in the new Olympic Stadium set for next year’s Beijing Olympics.