FLOAT 100 · Handbags · No. 67
Fendi Peekaboo Small
Designed at the height of logo mania as a bag only a true leather maker could build, the Peekaboo is meant to be carried open, and its whole point is the 'smile' it shows when you turn the lock.
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- current
- Maker
- Fendi
- By price in handbags
- 36 of 100
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- Fendi, Rome; made in Italy
- Designer
- Silvia Venturini Fendi, granddaughter of the house's founders
- Designed
- 2008; first shown at Fendi's Spring/Summer 2009 show in Milan
- This entry
- Peekaboo Soft Small in cappuccino-colored calfskin (product code 8BN365AOVHF19P8)
- Size
- 29 cm wide, 19 cm high, 12 cm deep; 0.79 kg
- Build
- Two compartments split by a stiff partition, suede-lined interior, twist lock on both sides
- Working name
- Hide and Seek, before Venturini Fendi settled on Peekaboo
- Retail (US)
- $5,550 on Fendi's U.S. site, October 3, 2026
An answer to the logo bag
By the late 2000s the 'It bag' had taken over the runway: big, branded and replaced every season. Silvia Venturini Fendi, who ran accessories at Fendi, wanted the opposite. 'There was an invasion of bags on the catwalk everywhere at the time,' she told an interviewer, 'so I really wanted to create a bag that only a real leather goods maker like Fendi could possibly make.' The result, designed in 2008, was nearly logo-free and plain on the outside.
The Peekaboo made its debut at Fendi's Spring/Summer 2009 show in Milan, as the accessory to Karl Lagerfeld's ready-to-wear collection. The first versions came in raw cotton toile, glossy patent leather and perforated suede.
The name came late. Venturini Fendi first called the bag Hide and Seek, after its hidden inner compartments, then switched to Peekaboo, after the children's game, because she felt it better captured how the interior is revealed. Fendi's own description says the bag 'plays with the beauty showcased on the outside and that concealed on the inside.'
The designer and the house
Fendi began in 1925 as a fur and leather shop on Via del Plebiscito in Rome, opened by Adele and Edoardo Fendi. Their five daughters joined in 1946, and Karl Lagerfeld arrived in 1965, creating the double-F logo the next year. The family sold control in 1999, and the house became part of LVMH's fashion and leather goods division in 2001.
Silvia Venturini Fendi, born in 1960, is the daughter of Anna Fendi. She became Lagerfeld's second-in-command in 1992 and creative director of menswear and accessories in 1994. Her 1997 Baguette had already made Fendi the house of the 'It bag'; the Peekaboo, which one source describes as reaching success comparable to the Baguette, was her second great hit. She later ran the whole house after Kim Jones left in 2024, and in September 2025 stepped down to become Fendi's honorary president.
Quiet before quiet luxury
The Peekaboo arrived as the 'It bag' boom was ending. By 2008 the popularity of the must-have status bag was already reported to be in decline, and a worldwide financial crisis, set off by the collapse of the U.S. housing bubble, peaked that September with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.
Fashion writers now describe the Peekaboo as quiet luxury before the phrase existed. The term, for understated clothes with high-quality materials and no visible logos, only became widespread in the 2020s. When it did, the Peekaboo was already more than a decade old.
How it works, and how to identify the Soft Small
The trick is in the hardware. The bag has a twist lock on both sides; turn one and the weight of the metal lets the leather fall forward into a curve Fendi calls a 'smile,' revealing the interior. Inside are two compartments: Venturini Fendi has described one as the side you keep closed and close to you, and the other as the side you can choose to reveal. Linings are chosen to contrast, in a different color or a precious material.
The Peekaboo Soft is a newer, slouchier version with a more natural shape and smoother edges, meant to be carried close to the body. Sources differ on its debut: one dates it to autumn/winter 2024, while Fendi's product page says it was presented at the Spring/Summer 2025 show. On the Soft, the metal bar at the opening is made of aluminum and covered in leather to lighten the bag.
Fendi lists the Peekaboo Soft Small in cappuccino-colored calfskin with a silky finish, a suede-lined interior, two compartments divided by a stiff partition, an inside leather pocket printed with a gold FENDI logo, gold-finish clasp and metalware, an adjustable top handle and a detachable, adjustable leather extension for cross-body wear. It measures 29 x 19 x 12 cm and weighs 0.79 kg. The product code is 8BN365AOVHF19P8.
Peekaboo construction is mostly handwork. Leather is hand-cut, the house's Selleria stitching is only ever sewn by hand, and edges are hand-painted; one account puts the time to make a single bag at between eight and 12 hours. On the woven Peekaboo Interlace, up to 900 holes are hand-drilled for the leather strips.
Many lives of one silhouette
Fendi has remade the bag in almost every material: sequins, shearling, a 2013 'Monster' version with yellow eyes, and pieces set with diamonds, rubies and amethysts. For the bag's 10th anniversary in 2018 came the lighter, single-pocket Peekaboo X-Lite; in 2020 the accordion-like Peekaboo ISeeU with an interchangeable pouch. All have been made in larger and smaller sizes, down to a Nano that can hang as a charm.
In 2014, to celebrate its new Bond Street store in London, Fendi asked ten women, among them architect Zaha Hadid, singer Adele and artist Tracey Emin, to design one-off Peekaboos. They were sold at auction in London on May 30, 2014, for Kids Company, a charity for at-risk young people. Hadid's all-black version broke from her usual curves with an angular, layered form.
Wearers have included Queen Rania of Jordan, Amal Clooney, Meghan Markle, Rihanna, Hailey Bieber and Taylor Swift, and men including Alexander Skarsgard and Diplo. Resale prices for Peekaboos range widely by edition, material and condition; one guide puts them between $1,000 and $50,000.
The numbers
- Dimensions
- 29 cm wide x 19 cm high x 12 cm deep
- Weight
- 0.79 kg
- Material
- Cappuccino-colored calfskin with a silky finish; calfskin and suede interior
- Hardware
- Gold-finish clasp and metalware; leather-covered aluminum bar; twist lock on both sides
- Interior
- Two compartments divided by a stiff partition; leather pocket with gold FENDI print
- Carry
- Adjustable top handle; detachable, adjustable leather extension for cross-body wear
- Product code
- 8BN365AOVHF19P8
- Production quantity
- Not published
Timeline
Adele and Edoardo Fendi open a fur and leather shop in Rome.
Silvia Venturini Fendi is born.
Venturini Fendi becomes creative director of menswear and accessories.
She designs the Baguette, Fendi's first 'It bag.'
The Peekaboo is designed, first under the working name Hide and Seek.
The Peekaboo debuts at Fendi's Spring/Summer 2009 show in Milan.
Fendi shows the 'Monster' Peekaboo with yellow eyes.
Ten designer Peekaboos, including Zaha Hadid's, are auctioned in London for Kids Company.
The single-pocket Peekaboo X-Lite marks the bag's 10th anniversary.
The Peekaboo ISeeU, with an interchangeable pouch, is introduced.
The Peekaboo Soft appears, dated by one source to autumn/winter 2024; Fendi dates its show debut to Spring/Summer 2025.
Venturini Fendi steps down as creative director and becomes honorary president.
Fendi's U.S. site lists the Peekaboo Soft Small in cappuccino at $5,550.
The world in 2007
Fendi stages the first fashion show on the Great Wall of China, with 88 models.
The 'It bag' craze is reported to be in decline.
The Sex and the City film opens in the U.S.; it grosses $418.8 million worldwide.
Lehman Brothers files for the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Congress passes the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.
Karl Lagerfeld, at Fendi since 1965, dies.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 3, 2026 | $5,550 | Asking price, not a saleNew retail price for the Peekaboo Soft Small in cappuccino-colored calfskin on Fendi's U.S. site. |
This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.
By reference price, Fendi Peekaboo Small is number 36 of 100 in the handbags entries of the FLOAT 100. 19 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (67 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- The Peekaboo was almost called Hide and Seek.
- It is designed to be carried open; the drooping front is called the bag's 'smile.'
- Zaha Hadid designed a one-off Peekaboo for a 2014 charity auction in London.
- Fendi once made a 'Monster' Peekaboo with piercing yellow eyes.
- The Peekaboo Interlace can have up to 900 hand-drilled holes for its woven leather.
- On the Soft version, the metal bar at the opening is aluminum wrapped in leather, to save weight.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 3, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026