Salvatore Ferragamo famously supplied Marilyn Monroe with shoes for her steamy role in 1959's Some Like It Hot. On the eve of the label's 80th anniversary, designer Graeme Black revisited the legendary shoemaker's glory days and that celebrated client's shapely, signature silhouette. Day or evening, knit tanks, polos, and cardigans came close to the body and belted, and skirts in everything from khaki cotton sateen to embroidered net fluffed with crinolines were full to the knee. A cotton piqué sundress in a black-and-white floral, along with a crochet coat, tiny leaflike embellishments flitting in the runway breeze, followed the same fit-and-flare lines.
On a more casual note, there were cropped and narrow jeans and cuffed shorts. A strapless top made from floaty layers of organza nodded to current trends, as did the finale, a strapless, multilayered trapeze. In the end, though, the collection didn't quite make a persuasive case to be taken on a par with the brand's lucrative accessories. Underscoring the importance of the latter to this house, nearly every model came out with the glam oversize shades, stacks of bangles or chain-handle bags, and croc slingbacks.
