Ferragamo announced this summer that it would be replacing designer Cristina Ortiz with Massimiliano Giornetti, who currently heads up the company's menswear. Before her departure, though, Ortiz had the no-doubt difficult task of completing a Spring collection. She smartly decided to stick to the more covered-up, sophisticated path she established last season, and while this show wasn't as strong, it was still an improvement on her misjudged earlier efforts for the storied Italian house.
Africa was Ortiz's reference point. That led to some rather unflattering jodhpurs cut very generously at the hips, but jackets, blouses, and full skirts in crocodile jacquard were a positive development. The show's highlights were a number of pale coats in crocodile, python, and laser-cut leather. A black gown with concentric circles of beads at the neckline that called to mind the Masai was also striking. But in the end, it was a case of too little, too late.
