Finding Freedom in a Shared Heritage at Ferragamo
Review of Ferragamo Spring 2025 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Shared heritage, organic forms, freedom, movement
Backstage with Maximilian Davis there is a moment of revelation when you realise that his inspiration for spring 2025 was African-American dancer and choreographer Katherine Dunham who trained in the Caribbean across the islands of Jamaica and Trinidad, and had shoes personally made for her by the house. Saying “there are a series of people that Salvatore Ferragamo has made shoes for…one of them being Katherine Dunham, he made her personal shoes as well her ballet shoes for her performances”. And it’s not a stretch of the imagination to believe that Davis was drawn to her story and the connection she had with Ferragamo, due to his own Caribbean roots. Not to put to fine a point on it, but this is a keen example of why it’s important to have creative directors from all walks of life, with varied backgrounds who are given the opportunity to lead at fashion houses whose customer demographic has expanded, while those at the top, not so much. And as ballet trends as a theme for 2025, can we say that Katherine Dunham would have appeared on any of the moodboards of Davis’ fellow designers, chances are probably not.
In interpreting the theme of the grace and elegance formed by the shapes the body makes when in motion, giving the wearer freedom was the foundation throughout. Ballets literal influence was used to create an homage to the dancers uniform of leotard, leggings, and wrap into a palette of vegetal shades and ‘ballet slipper’ pink. These looks have the duality of being both a luxe update to base layers while having the functional purpose of providing options for would-be principal dancers. No so much for the daily run-around, however the shoes in todays collection were still highly desirable. The designer could have very easily created his own version of the ballet flat that has become an oversaturated styling option due to dupe culture. Instead he took the lace-up detail and applied that to a restyled archive piece named the ‘Opanke Shoes’ into a toe-post sandal, and attached the satin ribbon tied up the models legs in that most recognisable way. A smart way to speak to the trend without the need to state the obvious.
A real designers designer Davis is looking inward rather than out for how to inform his design process, and has been able to develop shapes which are becoming a Ferragamo signature under his tenure. Think the organic curves which serve as hem and neckline details. And today the designer added on with a “woven gancho” texture that was used to make a coat, as well as voluminous parachute shapes for both technical outerwear and a revamped bubble-hem dress. While utiliy suiting came slightly crumpled as a way to add a sense of imperfection.
Today’s collection will be added to the list of one of his strongest showings, as like his peers, the creative director has cut-out any noise that will distract him from his role. One he was sought out for, and one he is growing into with each new season.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
We were looking at the history of ballet with Ferragamo, one of the references was Katherine Dunham – an African-American ballet dancer, we also looked at Rudolf Nureyev – a Russian ballet dancer – in the 1980s and we looked at his style in terms of elegance and rebelliousness and we brought that together in one collection”
Maximilian Davis, creative director, Ferrgamo
THE WRAP UP
Maximilan Davis created a collection for spring 2025 that was a quest for freedom for his customer, without restriction the ballet-style layers will aid movement in the everyday, and the parachute nylons across outerwear and dresses are the best version of the trending bubble-hem silhouette and are likely to be bought by an attuned older demographic.
