Massimiliano Giornetti has put the house of Salvatore Ferragamo in turnaround. Yesterday, Anna Dello Russo, the Italian fashion editor who is invariably trailed by a school of street-style photographers, wore a dress in an oversize houndstooth print from his Fall collection in the front rows—and looked fab doing it. That wouldn't have happened a couple of years ago.
If his latest collection wasn't an unalloyed hit, it was easy to pick out the winners: the one-shoulder long dress color-blocked from fuchsia, red, and turquoise, for example, or the halterneck, handkerchief-hem dress in a patchwork of different-colored leopard prints. Giornetti situated himself firmly in Milan's scarf-dressing camp for Spring. His motifs had a tribal-meets-tropical look: In addition to those leopard prints, there were palm fronds and giraffe patterns. One pink and purple wrap dress was topped by an on-message purple leather safari jacket.
A bit less on point were a chartreuse Prince of Wales jacket and a red pinstriped pantsuit that looked like leftovers from Fall whipped up in wilder colors for the occasion. A tank dress swagged in links of painted chains, and the bucket bags in bright pink and red, meanwhile, didn't jibe with Ferragamo's classy vibe. On the other hand, the cone-heeled lizard-skin sandals struck a balance between classic and cool that will keep this house, and Giornetti's reputation, moving up.
