As the famous Hollywood sign was completed in 1923, a young Italian immigrant named Salvatore Ferragamo had just opened his first store on the boulevard, the Hollywood Boot Shop.
It wasn’t long before the designer found great success, creating footwear for the silver screen and its stars including Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe.
Almost a century later and the luxury brand is in the midst of ushering in a fresh chapter of its storied history with a contemporary rebrand known simply as ‘Ferragamo.’
At the helm of the new vision is British designer Maximilian Davis, who was appointed Creative Director in March of 2022 and boasts existing fans in Dua Lipa, Rihanna and Kim Kardashian for his own eponymous self-titled label.
As he unveils an exciting new dawn for the brand, Davis is committed to expanding upon the legacy of Ferragamo, with touches of Davis’ own heritage.
“I wanted to pay tribute to Salvatore’s start by bringing in the culture of Hollywood—but new Hollywood,” explains Davis. “Its ease and sensuality; its sunset and sunrise.”
Indeed, Davis succeeded. His inaugural Spring/Summer 2023 collection held within a former Archbishop’s Seminary of Milan saw a seamless blend of the glamour of the bygone era and the sensuality of contemporary Hollywood with sheer knits, liquid silks and layers of organza amidst glossy leathers, second-skin fits and micro cuts.
To complete the ode to Hollywood, models were sent down a runway of sand in the brand’s new Pantone red, which appeared throughout the collection.
“The sand relates to Ferragamo, to Hollywood, to the ocean—but also to me, and to my own DNA,” Davis says.
“To what the sea means to Caribbean culture: a place where you can go to reflect and feel at one. I wanted to show that perspective, but now through the Ferragamo lens.”
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