FENDI and Lewis Kemmenoe's ænigma is not just furniture

Furniture and homeware should be more than just practical or functional – as pieces that often stay in our lives for years at a time, they should delight the eyes and the mind too, whether in unique shapes or construction.

At this year’s Design Miami 2024, the prestigious design fair, Roman luxury fashion house FENDI invited Lewis Kemmenoe, British-born and London-based furniture designer and maker, to present a new home collection that would represent both his style and that of FENDI.

The full collection as it was debuted at Design Miami 2024.

The result is ænigma, a collection of 10 pieces that serves as its Latin name suggests, a riddle or puzzle, or something hard to explain. Kemmenoe took inspiration from the city of Rome – its museums and gardens – as well as the FENDI headquarters and FENDI Factory, pulling familiar forms and motifs into furniture that invites analysis. The full collection features two chairs, a cabinet, two wall panels, three lamps, a coffee table and an iconic Peekaboo Soft bag.

Box joints on the Galleria Cabinet were used functionally and as an organic way to incorporate the FENDI FF motif.

The patchwork detailing on the FENDI patchwork Club Chairs were inspired by jacket motifs from the brand and constructed out of timber.

Lewis Kemmenoe’s body of work often focuses on objects that are functional yet subversive, and often are formed by the material he uses. With ænigma, materials play a big part, especially in creating a duality between organic and processed forms. The FENDI patchwork Club Chairs are a key example – a pair that shares the same form but appear in contrasting materials of brass and aluminium.

In the Galleria Cabinet, Kemmenoe uses box joints to construct, but also to naturally embed the FENDI FF motif. Alabaster and pine bark motifs cast into metal, a staple of Rome and its environment, are featured in the collection as a nod to the city.

The Peekaboo Soft bag was reinterpreted by Lewis Kemmenoe as part of the 'ænigma' collection.

A hidden wood texture is revealed upon opening the Peekaboo, while the same timber and metal used in the furniture makes up the bag's hardware.

Together with the furniture, Lewis Kemmenoe also reinterpreted the iconic FENDI Peekaboo Soft bag as part of the ænigma collection, incorporating the duality of organic and processed into a stunningly unique handbag. FENDI leathers and patterns are patchworked together in Kemmenoe’s signature motif, while the timber and brass used in the furniture complete the hardware on the Peekaboo. Inside, wood texture adorns the interior lining, a nod to the wood used in the ænigma furniture.