A 3-seater bench with 3D hand-sculpted lily and Selleria stitching details in solid bronze cast by Fonderia Battaglia, Milan, featuring FENDI cuoio Romano leather in ‘anice’ blue with matching Selleria leather stitching details.
The resulting environment, envisioned as a salotto—a softly illuminated Roman cocoon—invites visitors into a world shaped by hand-formed textures and monumental natural materials. That emotional foundation is central to Vallese’s work: “Every time I create a piece, I go back to this idea of poetical space—this feeling of belonging or grounding,” she explains. “I don’t get attached to spaces or material things, but my work creates a little bit of that feeling.” Cast in a palette of rosy bronze, sorbetto yellow, and pale anise blue, the pieces embrace the beauty of imperfection: pastel iridescence dancing across opaque Murano glass, sculptural reliefs in tufted carpets, and the glossy tactility of glazed ceramic tiles.
Majestic lilies bloom across an ensemble of furniture—the bronze bench, occasional chair, room divider, and illuminated sconce—each traced with the embossed impression of FENDI’s iconic Selleria stitch, subtly blurring industrial precision and artisanal intimacy. Reflecting on the craft, Vallese recalls, “When I went to the Fendi ateliers and saw all those beautiful stitches, it was something we definitely needed to bring into the pieces… to exaggerate them, to make them bigger and stronger.” Leather, a cornerstone of FENDI’s legacy, strengthens the Art Nouveau–meets–Art Deco sensibility with planes of cuoio Romano and meticulous Selleria detailing, while modular ceramic benches and cube tables reprise Vallese’s floral motifs through bespoke sculpted tiles and whisper-soft glazes.
A 100% wool rug woven by CC-Tapis, Milan, featuring an all-over hand-carved 3D lily ‘tile’ design with hand-carved double F motifs on each corner.
Murano vases, hand-blown by Barovier & Toso, mirror the collection’s chromatic glow, complemented by a wool rug by CC-Tapis that expands Vallese’s botanical fantasy across the floor in sculpted, tile-like dimension. The result is a wholly immersive, 360° portrait of a decadent modern FENDI salon—one that embodies what Vallese describes as “something joyful and strong… cozy, delicate, beautiful, elegant, gentle, but still very strong.”
At the heart of the project lies the symbolism of the Fendi founding sisters. “Five sisters, five ateliers—it all came together,” Vallese reflects. “Women are constantly blooming, going through cycles like flowers. I wanted that feminine touch and strength, this sense of getting together and creating something powerful.”
A 3-sided posable room divider with 3D hand-sculpted lilies in solid bronze cast by Fonderia Battaglia, Milan, featuring FENDI cuoio Romano leather in ‘anice’ blue and ‘sorbetto’ yellow with matching Selleria stitching details.
Extending the collaboration, Vallese also reimagines Silvia Venturini Fendi’s iconic Peekaboo bag. Rendered as a reversible pale yellow and blue diagonal-striped calfskin piece adorned with sculpted ceramic touches, the limited edition—five pieces only—arrives exclusively at the FENDI boutique in the Miami Design District. As Vallese notes, the Peekaboo became “a little bit of the starting point for the full collection,” embodying the tactile allure and chromatic softness of Fonderia Fendi in miniature form.