Toward the end of the Salvatore Ferragamo show, a song came over the loudspeakers that summed up designer Massimiliano Giornetti's new direction for Fall. Kate Bush's "Army Dreamers" said everything there was to know about a fine collection that married the rigor of military clothing with the romance of chiffon and lace.
Having worked on Ferragamo's men's collection before assuming the reins on the women's side as well, Giornetti is a practiced, subtle tailor. There was real finesse in an officer's jacket that combined black leather and sheared astrakhan. The same goes for a black leather blazer belted snug at the waist and its matching pencil skirt, as well as a fatigues-green flannel suit worn with its pants tucked into knee-high boots. Snug sweaters embroidered in bullion kept the military motif going.
The femme side of the Ferragamo story featured off-the-shoulder dresses in crocheted silk interwoven with ribbon; peasant tops tucked into high-waisted pencil skirts; and chiffon gypsy dresses edged in gold. "Lots to wear," said a fellow editor on her way out of the show. Agreed.
