Think Italian fashion and immediately Milan comes to mind. But two of the biggest names in Italian style hail from historic Rome: couturier Valentino and style powerhouse Fendi. Famous for its brilliant, innovative furs and coveted bags, since 1925, Fendi is still based in the city, with a new headquarters, studio, fur atelier and the biggest Fendi store in the world opening in 2005: Palazzo Fendi.

With accessories by Silvia VenturiniFendi and fashion by Karl Lagerfeld, it is the Roman attitude that is the house's point of creative difference

With accessories by Silvia Venturini Fendi and fashion by Karl Lagerfeld, it is the Roman attitude that is the house's point of creative difference. It's charged with the romance of legacy and the codes of Italian style but at the same time fiercely progressive. Well, the city is beyond rich culturally, after all. This means that Fendi will use leather but at the same time they'll push forward with materials of techno artifice, such as rubber. And in incorporating the two it's all the better.

What to take away from it all is a tastemaking unpredictability. You can be sure the collection will be stylish but how it goes about that is anyone's guess. We all know fashion very much needs a healthy dose of that.