Italian ease for summer

April 10, 2024 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — For spring-summer 2024, Ferragamo unveiled a new chapter of Maximilian Davis’ investigation into the Ferragamo woman. The campaign stars Natalia Vodianova photographed by Vanina Sorrenti, an Italian artist who for the past decades has pioneered a form of iconography entirely based on the intimate study of women, captured at ease.

“My heritage, my background, and my upbringing have always revolved around the influence and presence of women in my life,” explains Maximilian Davis. “And Vanina’s work is about seeing women in their natural surroundings, where they feel most at ease. Her gaze, and their comfort, is very powerful and I want to make sure that the women who I work with and the women who I dress feel that way, too.”

The spring-summer 2024 collection, which explored parallels between Caribbean and Italian effortlessness, is directly reflected in the interiors of the campaign: parquet floors and mid-century furnishings paired with vibrant hues and marked by serenity.

In the collection, linens and cotton are approached with rigorous finesse, sculptural wooden accessories are polished to perfection, and precise silhouettes are expressed in natural fabrics.

In accessories, flashes of azure blue — in the Hug bag, folded within an optic white Fiamma, coloring a mule — channel the spirit of the Caribbean, while the construction of the new cage heel draws upon the Ferragamo archive for a distinctly Italian modernity.

Exploring the 1920s

Meanwhile, for autumn-winter 2024, Davis explores the 1920s, distilling it to its liberated essence. Raised hems and fluid fabrics, dropped waists, and relaxed cuts — the visual codes of an era of emancipation — are reduced and refined for a collection that reflects the self-expression of the ’20s. “The 1920s used clothing as a way to celebrate freedom,” explains Davis. “And that expression of freedom is something which resonates with me, with my heritage, and with Ferragamo.”

Alongside lacquered organdie dresses and hyper-feminine transparencies, feathered finishes, and sequined embroideries, the wardrobes of women who chose to dress in masculine silhouettes — Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo — are reflected in broad shoulders, heavy wool, supple leathers.

“In the ’20s, as a response to the world that surrounded them, people created their own spaces through speakeasies,” Davis explains. “They were hiding what they were wearing until they were safe.”

In footwear, emblems of the era are discreet: the sweetheart shape of a satin pump; an elegant T-bar atop a stiletto; a strappy sandal drawn from the archive.

For men, a derby is gently elongated for slightly surreal impact, its heel geometrically squared. Elsewhere, utilitarian booties are gently swollen and square-toed for a contemporary take on vintage silhouettes.

Accessories incorporate seasonal iterations of the iconic Hug bag: feathered, grained, rendered in the new Ferragamo monogram. In the ultimate expression of Ferragamo’s craftmanship, 950 laminated leather sequins are hand-applied over 19 hours for a mermaid-scale effect.

The Fiamma also comes in a new size and shaded animation to reflect the collection. For autumn-winter, a new style of handbag was also introduced: a super-soft shape closed with a Gancini, whose structure has been drawn from the shape of the symbol of Ferragamo’s home city of Florence: the lily.

***

The Ferragamo boutique is located in Greenbelt 4.