Maximilian Davis was under full sail at Ferragamo this afternoon with a collection as sophisticated and imaginative as any he has shown here. He returned to last season’s speakeasy context (which explained the darkened, curtained set), while considering the Provincetown palette of American Precisionist artist Charles Demuth. Into this mix he added the aesthetic of maritime attire.
An opening section featured oversized and sometimes overcomplicated peacoats and coats in navy cashmere to which panels lined in ivory silk were buttoned in to create a sense of cubist deconstruction. Two Guernsey-touched sweaters, one navy, one white, featured raised collars that had been unbuttoned to fall away around the neck.
A middy blouse in ivory satin prefaced two matching shirt and skirt looks (in purplish organza and ivory satin) upon which the traditional placket lacing of the maritime garment was applied in graphic stroke from shoulder to knee. The blouse was extended into a dress in heavy navy satin with equal effect.
Those buttoned-in panels on the opening outerwear prefaced the next section of dresses and shirt/skirts in wool or leather that were constructed after the sailor’s shirt template and assembled entirely from buttoned flyaway panels. These looked very strong: graphic, striking, suggestive. Also effective were the later sculpted ruffle dresses in gold lamé and an early jacquard colored like that earlier purplish look after Demuth’s palette.
A section of garment dyed gabardine or nylon menswear and womenswear was peppered with house Gancini hardware and accented by leather quilted overshirts and gilets. The menswear tailoring was narrowly waisted, full-legged, and often worn under luxurious leather blouson jackets. The closing section of georgette dresses with their cinched accordion of pleats mid-calf emitted a visual echo of the heavy curtains that lined the space.
Davis said he had dug once more into Salvatore Ferragamo’s peerless archive of footwear innovation and been struck by a molded sole process that was incorporated into wave detail wedges and crystal toed pumps. He added that his own process had been about bringing together a fresh intersection of characters in his imagined speakeasy, a site of free exchange and adventure.
