Flavia Pennetta, the Italian winner of this year’s US Open, received a round of applause from the audience as the lights went down at Salvatore Ferragamo. Her surprise victory didn’t impact creative director Massimiliano Giornetti’s latest offering, which was underway months ago; nonetheless there was a certain synergy in the matchup. Giornetti’s latest collection had a buoyant grace. Though it's not activewear by any stretch of the imagination, a woman could be active in these dresses and look great.
Leather is almost obligatory chez Ferragamo, even for Spring. Giornetti did a fine job of making it suitable for warm weather, cutting it in generous proportions and using bar-tacked seams that quite literally let a paperbag-waist skirt and loose-fitting culottes breathe. But despite the house’s shoemaking legacy, the best pieces here weren’t skins. Rather, they were the midi-length sundresses in lofty cotton: one in black with bows on the shoulder straps; a strapless style with a wrapped waist in sky blue; and another strapless frock that combined tiers or black, dusty pink, and coral. Knit dresses had a springy bounce, too. By comparison, chiffon numbers with feather embellishments looked fussy, and there were a few too many extraneous bows on other pieces. Still, all in all, this was a good-looking outing for Giornetti.
