Venerable Italian house Salvatore Ferragamo gave the finger to the gathered Milan fashion week glitterati on Saturday as the backdrop for the label’s glitz and glam runway show.
The finger in this case was the notorious massive marble sculpture outside Milan’s stock exchange of an outstretched middle digit that has sparked debate in the Italian fashion capital.
But there was no mention by organisers of the artwork looming over the show, which was all bright colours, exotic materials and vertiginous high heels — not exactly a statement of aggression.
The sculpture, by Italy’s most famous living artist, Maurizio Cattelan, is titled L.O.V.E. But it has been criticised as being anti-capitalist due to its location, which the artist denies.
When asked about the collection, creative lead for women’s ready-to-wear Fulvio Rigoni stuck to the clothes saying “the idea was of taking different pieces from different VIP clients of Salvatore Ferragamo last century and mixing them up.”
The outdoor show, set in a field of grass laid for the occasion and backgrounded by the finger sculpture, saw models walking the looks on a glass catwalk among bloggers, buyers and fans of the 90-year-old house which won renown for its shoes.
The hand-painted python skin, flapper-type dresses bursting with tassels and satin gowns at Ferragamo, were the antithesis of the collection unveiled earlier by minimalist label Jil Sander.
