MILAN — Back in 2005 a new “It” bag made its way into the public spotlight, seen on the arms of celebrities and ante-litteram influencers alike.
The Fendi Spy bag — introduced with the spring 2005 collection and designed by handbag maven Silvia Venturini Fendi, the brand’s artistic director of accessories and menswear collections — was regularly seen on Nicole Richie, Lindsay Lohan, Hilary Duff, Gwen Stefani and Sarah Jessica Parker, just to name a few.
The soft style — shaped as a croissant with a rounded handle and signature secret pockets under the flap to hold essentials, such as lipstick, sunglasses, cash and a smartphone — made a return for fall 2025 as part of the collection that marked the Roman fashion house’s centennial this year.
On the runway, several iterations were displayed in materials ranging from leather, shearling and satin, to mink, swakara and eel. The Spy bag has since been spotted on celebrities such as Aubrey Plaza, Kelly Rowland, Rita Ora and Bianca Balti, while Rihanna and Bella Hadid, among others, have recently flashed vintage models.
Now the Spy bag is getting a further share of visibility through a dedicated digital campaign, simply titled “Fendi Spy Bag Returns,” photographed and directed by New York-based Stevie Dance.
In homage to its status of “It” bag for “It” girls — who helped fuel the bag’s popularity in the 2000s — the ad campaign stars Los Angeles-born model and mental health advocate Amelia Gray; Chinese model Xiao Wen Ju, and Gabbriette, each embodying a different attitude.
Riffing on investigative and surveillance cameras scattered across the globe and tapping into the voyeuristic genre, the three talents are seen through spy cams strolling around undefined cities and carrying a different version of the Spy bag — in baby blue leather for Gray, pink leather for Gabbriette and in shearling for Ju — as if a tech-savvy handbag collector was behind the screen trying to locate, and get their hands on, the bag.
Amelia Gray fronting the “Fendi Spy Bag Returns” digital campaign.
Stevie Dance/Courtesy of Fendi
Fendi bags have a track record of achieving “It” status, including the Peekaboo and, to a certain extent, the Fendi First clutch, although none has arguably reached the same pop and cultural weight as the Fendi Baguette bag, introduced in 1997 and prominently featured in the “Sex and the City” TV series, which helped cement its popularity.
The reedition of the Spy bag taps into nostalgia for Y2K fashion, and especially the ongoing revival of buzzy accessories from that decade, including the Louis Vuitton’s Murakami pieces, the Dior Saddle bag, Prada’s Re-Edition 2000 and 2005, and the Chloé Paddington, in addition to the Balenciaga City.
