Massimiliano Giornetti collects rugs. That's a hobby low on wow factor, but for a designer it makes sense. Threads are threads, whether you're knotting them for fashion or furniture. For his latest Salvatore Ferragamo collection, Giornetti turned his back on the slightly uptight sport concept he took up for Spring and, following the example of his rugs, went for something a bit cozier. Where before he had applied himself to the stringent architecture of his clothes, he now focused on their homespun textures: Backstage, Giornetti called the collection a 3-D study of fabric. Inspiration struck close to home, and the domestic experience, rather than the urban one, gave him a theme to play with. "After exploring the idea of frenetic life in big cities," he said, "I wanted something more intimate."
The motifs that ran across coats, jackets, and suits—stripes, woven threads, and even abstract kilims—were borrowed from rugs and blankets, but like their inspirations, they're only half appreciated by sight alone. These clothes looked designed to be touched. That's about as intimate as you can get, short of lingerie, but in case a would-be paramour wants to go there, too, Giornetti threw in a few dressing-gowns-as-statement-jackets. (He showed so many jackets and overcoats cinched and sashed at the waist that the suggestion seemed to be that anything can be a dressing gown if you belt it just so.) There were tweaks of the sartorial structure here and there—in particular, a passage of jackets abruptly cut off at waist level—but the sharpness of past seasons had been softened throughout. It wasn't exactly an invitation for a roll on (or in) the carpet, but Giornetti's new appreciation for intimacy helped to warm up a collection that had lately gone chilly.
