This Ferragamo Collection Shows How Fashion Can Blur Lines Between Gender and Generations
“Generation,” the Autumn Winter ’19 collection by Paul Andrew and Guillaume Meilland for the house of Salvatore Ferragamo, is an undefined, androgynous delight. Jackets and utilitarian outerwear in deerskin, corduroy and wool gabardine with hand-stitched detail, as well as more intimate robes and pajamas in soft, sensuous leather feel like they could cross from men to women and back again.
Town&Country Philippines attended the brand’s first press launch in Asia, and we were honored to hear all about the collection from Andrew himself, who was named overall creative director of the Ferragamo brand earlier this year. He joined the company in 2016 as Women’s Footwear Director, and was promoted to Women’s Creative Director a year later.
“My approach to moving Ferragamo forward is really the opposite of what a lot of other luxury houses are doing right now. You go into many of the stores here in Tokyo and all you will find are hoodies and T-shirts and jeans and shorts and sneakers with the brand’s logo emblazoned all over the front of them. I think that is not luxurious, not necessarily high fashion, and my approach to Ferragamo is very different,” says Andrew.
“It’s about keeping that ease and that wearability in the clothes, but keeping it very elevated. I’ve been looking at a lot of workwear from the 40s, 50s, and 60s, and this is an example of that,” he says, as he shows us a fabulous leather jumpsuit. “Instead of it being rendered in cheap cotton twill, it’s made in this beautiful Nappa leather, which exemplifies everything I’m trying to do.”
He showed us how the piece could be worn loose and oversize the way a work jumper is worn, or cinched at the waist to make it tighter and form-fitting. Paul says he believes Ferragamo should really own leather dressing, and the material is very much present the current collection.
We were particularly drawn to his multicolor patchworks of different textures and fabrics such as dresses made with archival scarf prints on silk twill contrasting with warm suede and sensual Nappa leather, at once luxurious yet wearable off the ramp in an everyday setting.
Hand-knit sweaters, fringed cashmere blanket coats, and soft leather robes evoke natural, casual luxury.
Shoes, a fundamental element of the house of Ferragamo, come in suede with sculptured heels, sexy pull-on boots in buttery calfskin, and satin stilettos with straps appliquéd with rhinestones. For men, Nubuck trekking boots and workwear shoes that look rugged from afar but up close, one will notice the uppers are made with beautifully soft, grainy Nappa calfskin. Unseen and unnoticed, the soles injected with air to make them light and airy and extremely easy to wear, and vulcanized rubber edges protect the wearer from rainy days any day of the week.
For this season’s bags, always a Ferragamo favorite, Andrew used the generations’ old expertise of the house’s leather artisans to develop the modern boxyz bag. The eye-catching purse comes in four different sizes and a multitude of fabrics.
“Selecting a handbag that will be with you every day is an intensely personal choice. So when I set out to create a bag worthy of carrying the most essential and cherished items in a modern woman’s life, I started by asking the many important women in my life what they care about most in a bag,” says Paul, revealing the common themes were privacy, convenience, strength, beauty, and boldness.
“The boxyz is designed to answer these needs down to the last letter—a portable and precious safe space crafted with Ferragamo’s heritage expertise.”
Salvatore Ferragamo Greenbelt 4, Makati, ssilife.com.ph
