It’s been a little under a year since Maximilian Davis was named the creative director for Ferragamo, but he barely needed any time at all to make a statement at the brand. He made waves with his very first runway last September, the lauded spring 2023 “New Dawn” line in which he leaned heavily into the color red. And on Saturday, February 25, he evaded the sophomore slump, presenting another gorgeous collection.
For fall 2023, Davis looked to the brand’s classic Hollywood past, mining references from the wardrobes of the iconic starlets Salvatore Ferragamo himself worked with.
“It’s how Ferragamo started, making shoes for films in the 1930s, and that grew into building relationships with movie stars like Sophia Loren and Marilyn Monroe in the 1950s,” Davis stated in the show notes. “I was interested in using their glamour and beauty, and their way of dressing, as a reference, but looking at how we could make it feel modern for today.”
In less capable hands, those references might feel gimmicky or costume-y. In Davis’s hands, they twist into sleek and almost minimalist designs with a ladylike undercurrent.
Giant furry overcoats were styled over stirrup leggings, knits were worn slung around the shoulders and cropped above high-waisted pants, and dresses made in everything from satin and lamé to pleather were elegantly ruched and draped. Cocoon shapes were key, seen in suiting and in outerwear.
Referencing ’50s biker counterculture, several pieces of menswear and womenswear had zips or slashes of fabric which pulled open to reveal a flash of what’s become his signature red underneath. And alongside those looks were pieces chosen for their softness to reference scarf dressing—fitting for the Florentine house with a long history of rich silk scarves.
“I wanted to introduce the more romantic side of the fifties, and the two elements appear to contrast so directly—the ethereality against the rigor—that they somehow go hand-in-hand,” Davis says.
Exotic prints in the collection were scanned from the archives before being screen printed onto pieces like shearling coats and handbags “with a slight distortion to make them feel like heirloom pieces, taken from the past but brought into the future.” The angular wedge pumps paired with many of the looks were also an archival reference, stealing its shape from a 1956 shoe originally made in 18k gold; the stilettos, too, mimicked the original style’s curve.
If social media is any indication, though—and it often is—the biggest hit look was a deceptively simple white bodysuit and pant pairing, with oversized gold earrings serving as the only decoration. While Davis is referencing women from several decades ago, what he’s created is another collection full of the kinds of pieces women today will want to wear.
