Trevi Fountain facelift project bags Fendi funds

Rome’s 18th-century Trevi Fountain is getting a €2.18 million (£1.8m) restoration, courtesy of the Fendi fashion house.

The 20-month project on the iconic fountain was unveiled at a press conference yesterday featuring Fendi designers Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini Fendi, who said the project combined a love of Rome’s past with a need to preserve its future.

Rome’s fountains, Lagerfeld said, “are there to glorify water, which is the most important thing in life”.

It’s the latest example of Italian fashion companies coming to the aid of Italy’s cultural heritage. The founder of the Tod’s shoe company is footing the bill for the €25m restoration of Rome’s ancient Colosseum.