For Salvatore Ferragamo’s inaugural collection, creative director Maxmilian Davis tapped into one of the brand’s most enduring inspirations: Hollywood.
More specifically, the 27-year-old rising star, who was named at the helm of the heritage brand in March, has set his sights on one of Mr Ferragamo’s most iconic designs – the founder’s red for Marilyn Crystal ‘Marilyn’ heels Monroe 1959.
“I wanted to pay homage to the beginnings of Salvatore by bringing in Hollywood culture — but New Hollywood,” the designer wrote in his show notes.
Red is one of the main colours of the Davis collection, which was unveiled at Milan Fashion Week on Saturday – on the red sand runway at the palace of the former Milan Archbishop’s Seminary, which will soon be transformed into the Ferragamo Hotel and Shopping center.
Ahead of the show, Ferragamo seemed eager to promote its new identity, scrapping the old logo (and the founder’s name) earlier this week in favor of a sleeker serif typeface.
“History is a huge asset to owning the house that owns it,” CEO and managing director Marco Gobbetti told WWD. “The new Ferragamo logo embraces and expands the past and the present. It is not just a logo, it is a program that will frame and guide the new chapters to be written.”
The next chapter in Ferragamo’s footwear business is unclear. (Davis takes over from longtime shoe designer Paul Andrew, former creative director.)
It’s hard to see many of the shoe details in the Davis collection that were overshadowed by the red sand of the runway. One of the new pumps comes from the brand’s geometric double-hook Gancini hardware.
These bags are more of a story: Wanda first launched in 1988 and named after Salvatore’s wife – reinterpreted in new proportions, while the prismatic shoulder bag is also the focus.
