Designer Massimiliano Giornetti is very taken by the notion that men now dress "more formally for their casual time, more casually for their formal time," and his new collection for Salvatore Ferragamo was a pretty accurate reflection of that conviction. Though Ferragamo's heritage is color, Giornetti pointed the range into the monochrome zone. From the first outfit—white three-piece suit, white tie, white patent shoes—he held the palette to a handful of minimal shades. The best of them (aside from that timely white) was the silver that toned everything from a nylon trench to a Lurex knit with a deep V neckline to the piping on a suit and the collar studs on a shirt. The metallic loaned the collection an alluring sheen of modernism, though Giornetti's faith in his blend of what he called "the sexy and the sensual" produced some head-scratchers, particularly in the form of jersey short shorts, which he insisted on pairing with tailored jackets or even dress shirts. In the same vein, one evening look had the model in a shorts suit with a big bow tied round his neck, like a gift-wrapped Lord Fauntleroy. But these were presumably showpiece missteps in a collection that otherwise emphasized some deluxe, desirable items.
