The queen, the mother, the lover, the sage, the maiden, the huntress and the mystic. They are the seven Jungian archetypes that inspired Paul Andrew’s newest collection for Salvatore Ferragamo.
“I was thinking that here, today, in this modern age, a woman in any given hour is all of those things together,” Andrew said backstage.
Andrew’s mood board was full of “iconic” women who fulfil those roles. They included Nancy Pelosi, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Sharon Stone, in her ‘Fatal Attraction’ iteration, and Wanda Ferragamo, Salvatore’s widow, who helped turn his luxury shoe business into the global luxury brand it is today.
The collection brimmed with Italian craftsmanship — from wavy woven bags made from upcycled leftover leather from the Ferragamo warehouses, to handmade macrame inserts in an archival botanical print, enhancing the back of a print blouse with eye-catching detail.
Trousers were high-waisted, sometimes corseted and other times layered with a built-in side-cinched long skirt on top. Knitwear, worn perhaps as mini-dresses, came embroidered with exotic florals. Leather coats had a light feel and incorporated scarves. The design feature was repeated on sheer dresses and blazers, creating a dramatic effect. And there were strong all-leather pant looks for anyone wanting to star in their own James Bond thriller.
The opening and closing looks featured fringe-adorned dresses — one a shimmering silver fringe skirt over a black sheath, and the other long strands of ribbon trailing from a black strapless number — that had a polished, shredded effect. Coincidence that it comes just weeks after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shredded a copy of US President Trump’s State of the Union address on live TV?
“She’s an incredible woman,” Andrew said of Pelosi. “She is powerful, she is strong, she is comfortable with herself. She is everything I admire in a woman.”
