Maximilian Davis returns to the relationship between clothing and freedom for Ferragamo Spring/Summer 2027. This season, the designer looks towards the 1940s, considering how the era’s uniforms, workwear and composed silhouettes shaped posture and presence. He uses those references as a starting point for a wardrobe whose structure is sharpened, shifted and made contemporary.
The waist becomes a clear point of focus. High-waisted tailoring sits close to the body, secured with emphatic double belts, while utility pockets appear on pencil skirts and outerwear. Vests are layered beneath suiting, and trench-coat skirts open into a more generous flare. Each change adjusts the balance between the discipline of the original reference and the wearer’s movement.
Structure meets a different surface
Materials bring another dimension to the collection. Translucent rubber, leather shirting and glossy python ties introduce surfaces that give familiar forms a less expected character. Davis’s approach to scarf dressing continues through looped silks, leather trains and draped sequinned gowns, adding fluidity to the more defined tailoring.
The selected runway photographs show these ideas in distinct forms. A tailored skirt suit is fastened with two dark belts, giving its restrained colour a firm central line. A brown sleeveless dress follows the body through a glossy surface. Elsewhere, a patterned skirt and top are accompanied by a long draped panel, extending the print into movement.
The image and the individual
Surrealist photography also informs Davis’s material research. The press notes connect rayographic and solarised portraiture to the collection’s transparencies and tonal contrasts, while sun-faded leathers, natural fabrics and terrain-like prints suggest surfaces changed by time and exposure.
Davis describes an interest in women of the period who took control of their own narratives, working both as subjects and makers of images. That perspective gives the historical references a personal dimension. At Ferragamo, the forties silhouette becomes a means of exploring how a woman occupies her clothes and the space around her.
Featured image: Courtesy of Ferragamo.
