Maximilian Davis and filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher team up at Cinecittà Studios to channel golden-age glamour through a contemporary Italian lens. When Salvatore Ferragamo first arrived in Hollywood in the early 20th century, he brought more than handmade shoes—he brought artistry. Known as the “shoemaker to the stars,” Ferragamo outfitted some of the most iconic feet in cinematic history, from Marilyn Monroe to Audrey Hepburn. Nearly a century later, the house that bears his name returns to the big screen—but this time, with a bold reimagining.
Lights, camera, legacy
Ferragamo’s latest collection doesn’t merely flirt with cinematic nostalgia—it makes it the main character. In many ways, it’s a return to roots. Salvatore Ferragamo first rose to prominence by crafting shoes for the golden age of Hollywood, his workshop frequented by stars like Judy Garland, Joan Crawford, and Greta Garbo. He was as much a part of the film industry as any director or costume designer, lending not just craftsmanship but fantasy to the screen.
With Pre-Fall 2025, Maximilian Davis takes that legacy and casts it in a new light. The clothes themselves are timeless in spirit, yet modern in execution—elegant silhouettes rendered in earthy tones, structured tailoring softened with draped textures, and accessories that merge utility with indulgence. These are not costumes, but characters in their own right.
It’s only fitting, then, that the campaign leans heavily into the magic of moviemaking. By choosing Cinecittà Studios—a location steeped in cinematic history—as the setting, Ferragamo turns the collection into a love letter to both the glamour and grit of filmmaking.
Behind the lens: A collaboration steeped in storytelling
To breathe life into this cinematic vision, Ferragamo tapped Italian auteur Alice Rohrwacher, whose poetic realism and myth-infused narratives earned her awards at Cannes and Berlin. Her direction brings a unique sensibility to the campaign film: not glossy or overproduced, but intimate, tactile, and slightly surreal.
Structured in three parts, the campaign unfolds like a cinematic triptych. Each vignette conjures a different emotion, a different scene—yet together they form a cohesive world. The sets feel deliberately handmade: waves created with scraps of blue fabric, sun-kissed lighting evoking romantic interludes, and props that feel borrowed from both dreams and memories.
It’s not just an aesthetic choice. Rohrwacher’s treatment emphasizes the illusion of cinema itself—the artifice behind the art. That theme resonates deeply with Davis’s vision for Ferragamo, where craft and storytelling are inseparable. “Salvatore’s ideas of using the materials around you to innovate is so interesting to me,” Davis explains. “This scene is all about innovation and craft and so using that to create the very setting of the scene felt perfect.”
L’Avventura: An ode to cinematic escapism
The campaign’s latest chapter, titled L’Avventura—Italian for “The Adventure”—pays homage not only to Antonioni’s famed 1960 film of the same name, but to the idea of fashion as escape. Here, summer romance plays out in a hazy, sun-drenched setting where cork-heeled sandals trimmed in raffia walk quietly through hand-crafted seascapes. It’s whimsical, even illusory, and that’s the point.
As the scene progresses, the camera zooms out to reveal the film set: rolling “waves” made of fabric, lighting rigs casting artificial glow, wind machines blowing through paper palm trees. The magic, it turns out, is all illusion. But it’s no less real for being imagined.
The pieces featured are equally transportive. Breezy yet sculptural dresses in soft natural hues evoke the simplicity of summer, while accessories—structured bags, oversized sunglasses, cork platforms—nod to both resort wear and costume design. There’s a playful tension between reality and performance, between wearing a look and inhabiting a role.
A new chapter for Ferragamo
Maximilian Davis has, in many ways, reframed Ferragamo’s narrative since joining as creative director. His approach blends reverence with reinvention—honoring the house’s rich history while pulling it resolutely into the now. The Pre-Fall 2025 campaign is a clear distillation of that ethos.
This isn’t about vintage revival for its own sake, nor about mere nostalgia. It’s about how history informs identity—and how fashion can be a cinematic tool for exploring it. What results is more than a campaign. It’s a story. A memory. A dream with precise tailoring.
As the Pre-Fall pieces begin arriving in boutiques and online, they carry with them the mood of a film only half-remembered, a summer that feels eternal. Much like the silver screen icons who first inspired them, the collection lingers—elegant, expressive, and just slightly unreal.
Ferragamo Pre-Fall 2025 is available at selected boutiques worldwide and on ferragamo.com. The full three-part campaign film, directed by Alice Rohrwacher, is also streaming now on the official website.
