Ferragamo Fall 2026
For Fall/Winter 2026, Maximilian Davis once again dipped into the decade that birthed Salvatore Ferragamo himself, the 1920s, but with a new focus on reconstruction and restraint. The result was a collection that felt both cinematic and tactile, staged at La Triennale di Milano under dim lighting and a foreboding score. The atmosphere was charged, part naval discipline, part speakeasy sensuality, as Davis explored what freedom of form looks like a century after Ferragamo’s beginnings.
Tailoring came first, and it came undone. Enormous pea coats hinted at sailor uniforms, while double-breasted coats and blazers arrived with deconstructed seams, modular panels, and an obsessive attention to buttons, a motif that threaded through the entire collection. Shirts tied high at the neck with drawstrings, sweaters unbuttoned at the collar, and skirts came apart at the sides to flash unexpected glimpses of skin. “Buttons are a way to construct and deconstruct identity,” Davis said backstage. The same spirit ran through his menswear: structured but never stiff, with jackets that curved gently off the body and trousers that moved with fluid precision.
As Kelela’s voice filled the space, the palette softened. Black, cream, and navy gave way to washed-out greens, dusky oranges, and muted blues, tones Davis described as “vibrant once, now seen through the haze of history.” The effect was painterly, like the fading of old photographs. A standout look paired a faded olive parka lined with shearling over quilted silk trousers, suggesting luxury that had lived a life. The material language: garment-dyed cottons, recycled nylon, brushed nappa gave the collection a grounded sensuality.
Eveningwear shifted the mood again. Metallic lamé gowns and floral jacquard slip dresses shimmered in gold and champagne, their movement echoing the fluidity of flapper-era silhouettes. A knee-length golden dress with a high trailing neck could have stepped straight into a Tilda Swinton film; others, in pleated sheer fabric, seemed to hover between fragility and strength. The finale glowed with gold lamé flapper gowns and fishtail hems that flickered like candlelight on the runway.
Footwear brought the story full circle. Davis revisited a 1954 Ferragamo flat, reimagining it as a sharp stiletto and a vampy slingback, while the house’s signature shell-sole technique appeared in sculptural sandals. Accessories followed suit: slim Gancini-plated bags, quilted leather barn jackets, and cross-body satchels in oxblood and teal underscored Davis’s instinct for modern utility.
There were moments when the panelling and fastening verged on overcomplicated, but even then, the collection’s confidence held. This was Davis at his most self-assured, a designer mining history not for nostalgia, but for rhythm. “The speakeasy,” he said, “was a place where everyone came together - sailors, socialites, dreamers. I wanted to capture that sense of tension and liberation.” In his hands, Ferragamo Fall 2026 became exactly that: a meeting place between past and present, discipline and desire, structure and soul.
