Fendi, the Artist, and the Experiential masterpiece. An excellent example of how a brand experience is at the heart of a wider campaign.

Thursday, 14 July 2011

Friend of Undercurrent and all round good egg Rowan Mersh is an artist.

Knowing the sorts of the things we do (in terms of work, as opposed to hobbies etc), last weekend he told us about an extremely interesting experiencial brand exercise he was working on with Fendi.

The campaign is called the Fendi "Fatto a Mano for the Future" (hand-made for the future) -it's an art project which transforms Fendi stores worldwide into artistic laboratories. The performance exhibition, currently on a world tour being installed in the luxury brand's flagship stores in major cities on every continent, showcases key fashion concepts from a different perspective.

The idea is that heritage, tradition and innovation might not only create beautiful clothing and accessories, but might also originate unique art pieces. The installations of this itinerary art show are created live from discarded Fendi leather, by Italian and British designers, artists and craftsmen.

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Rowan leather sculpture, (which is the largest and most impressive of the three pieces - and we're not just saying that because he's our mate) punches lots of Fendi leather in front of you at the rhythm of a real-time heartbeat, which also defines the final dimensions of the installation. The result is a genuinely beautiful and colourful flow of leather.

The other installations include Nicola Guerraz's creation, called "3D Selleria Scribbles," which takes inspiration from saddlery-making traditions and is created live with the help of a Fendi artisan. And last, but not least, Sandro del Pistoia's sculpture is modular using small wooden-leather units.

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The whole project, whilst being so artistically highbrow and culturally sophisticated, is in its essence classic experiential. And it really highlights how experiential activities are developing to become an integral part of a brands conversation with its consumers.

It's also one of the reasons we do what we do here at Undercurrent - the chances to create culturally relevant, genuinely interesting and creatively challenging experiential activities are growing all the time, and we look forward to being part of a project like the Fendi "Fatto a Mano for the Future" soon.