Color! The first look Massimiliano Giornetti sent down the runway was black cape to toe, but the big message at Salvatore Ferragamo for Fall was color: yellow, sky blue, fuchsia, coral, et cetera, and all the energy and joy they connote. Spring is typically the moment for all that hue, but as the world gets flatter and global warming continues to confuse Mother Nature, designers are responding with collections that know no season. On the Ferragamo runway this afternoon, zigzag patchwork furs intermingled with color-block knit slip dresses, and suede and lizard skin booties and knee-high styles were joined by furry-heeled T-straps. The unifying factor: a lively palette.
The collection felt like an evolution of Giornetti’s well received Spring show, but it didn’t land quite as squarely as that one. Knits were a big component of Spring, and they led the way here, as well. With their button detailing, belts, and pleated peplums, the long-sleeved versions he showed today felt a touch tricked out. The knit slip dresses came off somewhat simpler and more desirable. Sleeveless sheaths with a zigzag motif bisecting top and bottom had just the right amount of graphic. Elsewhere, on button-down blouses worn with full, pleated skirts, the mismatched patterns erred on the busy, overbearing side.
A black leather coatdress cinched with a rickrack-trimmed belt provided the eye with a moment of understated relief, as did a graceful red cape with more of that shark tooth trim along the seams. With Alessandro Michele leading the way at Gucci, Milan has entered an exceedingly exuberant phase. Giornetti and Ferragamo are better suited for a more temperate kind of chic.
