Ferrari’s prancing horse is to automotive luxury what the Hermès horse and carriage is to fashion luxury: the thoroughbred of thoroughbreds. Under Rocco Iannone, Maranello’s apogee brand this morning continued in its experimental mission to leap across from one category to master the other. In order to relate his house’s home circuit to this fresh territory, he framed this collection as an exercise in dreamy bodywork, and then set out to shape it.
The opening looks in rosso corsa were molded around their runway drivers in stiffened knitwear and gloss-coated denims: the full silhouette was as arresting as the roar of a V12. Silks and shearlings, including a raw-hemmed fringed skirt, dominated the looks as Iannone transitioned into an all-black section. Then came a surprising turn into quieter luxury. A section of full-shouldered, cinched waist suiting in dark gray wool-cashmere (lined with red silk) for men and women departed from the established norms of this collection and suggested an acceleration into business wear. This was an initiative you could envisage many thrill-seeking captains of industry getting into.
Chrome-toned and then gold-toned suiting, dresses, and coats in opaquely shiny treated velvets followed. The golds were especially hard not to watch, as were the red-tinted treated organza looks near the end. Footwear included stylized driving shoes, high-shine pumps, and chisel-toe boots. Shearling racing gloves and fan-belt jewelry added extra zoom to the established va-va-voom. Iannone said that a distinct customer base is coalescing around Ferrari’s ongoing R&D push into fashion: make it and they will come.
