The late choreographer Pina Bausch’s translation of movement into evocative expressions of emotion has long made her a favorite inspiration in fashion; Dries Van Noten, Simone Rocha, Christophe Lemaire, Ludovic de Saint Sernin and Dior are a few of the runways we’ve seen her referenced on in recent seasons. Bausch herself also enjoyed a long creative relationship with Yohji Yamamoto and once collaborated with Miuccia Prada on a handbag.
It was Maximilian Davis’s turn to put Bausch on his moodboard this morning at a Ferragamo show that acted as a sequel to last season’s ballet inspired fashion performance. The runway was strewn with petals (Nelken by way of American Beauty), and there were floral embellishments at the ankle or heels of some sandals that also echoed vintage campaigns by the house. Two striking, thickly fringed meshed dresses near the end were hung with carnation-like florals. Some of the oversized tailored outerwear echoed the garments which Bausch was sometimes photographed wearing, and much of Davis’s tailoring was cut in jersey to afford freedom of movement.
Because “a lot of her references came from the 1920s” Davis also worked to incorporate gently surrealistic elements into the collection. These included the doubled iterations of the house Hug bag worn at the waist and a later jacket and dress that grafted adapted versions of the bag into the garments as front pockets. Drop waist dresses were divided into satin, lace and treated shearling fur horizontal sections. Dresses, bags and skirts were adorned with feathers whose usual quill down orientation was subjected to a 180 degree ruffle. Trench coats were reimagined as satin dresses to generate a satisfyingly unconventional discordance between form and category. This was another fur-filled collection in a season full of them: one appropriate to Ferragamo highlight here were the fur-strapped flip flops that left the runway’s petals dancing in their wearers’ wakes.
