A grim, wartime mood permeated Ferragamo’s fall show, reinforced by the dim venue with its spare wooden seating, the stirring, processional music, and in the collection, which opened with military green officer coats and then cycled through belted leather trenches and tall, crepe-soled boots.
Thick, trapunto-stitched belts were the dominant and memorable detail, sagging off the hips of heavy, squarish wool coats, hugging the shoulders on offbeat little capes, or streaming off gauzy cocktail dresses.
There were moments of levity in feathery shoes, the utility HotPants for men, and a red jersey dress with its slashed and draped hem tangled up in the legs.
The fish-scale dresses, here composed of glossy discs of patent leather, and the artsy motifs on other garments brought to mind recent Bottega Veneta shows.
Backstage, Ferragamo creative director Maximilian Davis said his archival research settled on the 1920s, his inspiration imagery — distributed in a booklet along with the invitation — showing founder Salvatore Ferragamo sliding a cone-heeled pump onto the right foot of Joan Crawford at the Hollywood Boot Shop.
Davis imagined women heading into speakeasies with their embroidered dance dresses hidden under enveloping, mannish coats.
In a backstage scrum, he said he wanted to capture the celebratory mood of that era, seen in his handsome dress coats for men and in striking slip dresses composed of intricate swags of delicate fringe.
Unifying details, including hardware on shoes that also appeared as jacquards on clothes, and a palette of military greens and soupy browns made the clothes more identifiable than his recent Ferragamo efforts.
Now all he needs to do is lighten the mood.
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