Salvatore Ferragamo Spring 2010 Men´s.

Sean O´Pry

Massimiliano Giornetti is a master at sublimating his inspirations into the grander design of Salvatore Ferragamo.


This season, for instance, he was fascinated by the colors and textures of Africa (and also by the way they had inspired artists in the past)—but in transmuting his impressions, he managed to produce a collection that was ineffably Italian.


The deep orangey-red of a double-breasted suit might well have originated in sunsets over the savanna, but Giornetti pointed out that red is also the color of good luck in Italy. In the same way, the exotic end of his color palette—saffron, cinnamon, coffee—was polished to a fine urban sheen by Ferragamo's artisans, especially when the fabrics they had at their disposal were as sophisticated as the translucent bronze silk that made a coat.


One saffron-toned suit was shown with a soft brown leather tee, a provocative interpretation of skin on skin.


And Giornetti's raffia knits had an intended echo of bush-craft.


That's where the designer's soul may be drawn, but the commercial heart of the collection will always be something like the pinstriped suit shown with fedora and correspondents, a security blanket for the inveterate Euro-dandy.

Sean O´Pry