How Artist Sarah Coleman is Bringing Her Creative Ethos to Fendi
Sarah Coleman is always looking for the next frontier where art and fashion converge. Known for her repurposing of logo fabrics—applied to everything from chairs to matchbook covers, the artist has just partnered with Fendi for a limited-edition series of original pieces and a new vision of the brand’s Miami Design District boutique. “I don't like to confine myself to any one category, whether that's artist or designer,” Coleman tells L’OFFICIEL. “Anything can inspire my work, so when it comes to fashion, I think of that as just one of many mediums I can choose to work with to express myself personally or conceptually.”
For the new project, which debuts next month, the artist combined Fendi’s history and legacy as a style powerhouse with her penchant for unexpected, playful twists. Coleman envisioned a special collection of brightly-hued Peekaboo I See U bags, culling Op art and Space Age aesthetics with retro vibes and a classic appeal. The accessories have a distinctive, Miami-esque feel—a standout bag even boasts phosphorescent FF beads and glow-in-the-dark embroidery. "Working with Fendi, I was given such freedom to create–the only instruction Silvia [Venturini Fendi, the brand’s creative director] really gave was 'be disruptive,’” says Coleman. “This allowed me to really experiment and to say yes to everything.”
The boutique’s interiors were also touched by her artful experimentation, where she collaged, painted, and logo-d design pieces with a mix of Fendi archival images, vintage magazines, and prints that she herself designed. "I really enjoy working with logos because there's something so powerful about the way they can stand the test of time, whether the logo has been around 25 years or 100 years,” explains the artist. “Logo prints are special because they can be worn as a neutral–they can feel natural in any outfit or in any space.”
In a contemporary spin, Coleman reimagined the brand’s logo through an editing app. “Using Facetune came really organically, which I think is the way a lot of my best work happens,” she says. “[The app] is generally used to ‘perfect,’ but instead using it freely to create art and express myself, it has so many connections with my work in general,” offers Coleman. "I feel like the best art can exist on its own or in a certain space and context. That's really what I tried to create for Fendi, pieces that had their own unique spirit and yet had that dichotomy I love to create, of something familiar but also something playful and different.”
Coleman’s background has long included a mix of art and fashion. She has turned her creative gifts towards a range of endeavors, including designing Chanel interiors with architect Peter Marino and helming art direction for the Mercer Hotel. Her artwork with repurposed logo fabrics aims to elevate basic objects—from plastic bottles and lighters to outlet covers and power strips—with elegance and luxury craftsmanship in an adept mix of high-low. “I feel a deep connection with everyday objects. They become everyday for a reason, because something about their design makes them basically perfect–even if they seem simple,” says Coleman. “To me, art, fashion, and design are different labels people put on the essentially same thing, forms of expression with a common thread.”
Within the artist’s métier, there is also a deeper, sustainable sensibility in her designs. “When I am present in my life and keep my eyes open, I am constantly presented with objects that I can repurpose in my work or studio,” she says. “I try to step back in my environment and ask myself what I already have that can be transformed and given a second life. More and more, I am trying to respect the earth and create less waste by reusing what is already there.”
