Maximilian Davis’ latest collection is a study on how the formal and the functional blend, past and present converge.
For Fall/Winter 2026, Maximilian Davis continues to explore the 1920s, the period of Ferragamo’s inception, through the language he has established at the house. The speakeasy returns as a focal point—a locus of liberation; a space where conventions of class and identity are disrupted—and the collection is informed by the diverse characters who would intermingle and populate it after hours.
The clothing of sailors offers a foundational motif: those who would go to sea to build better lives for their families. “That’s something that both Salvatore and my own family experienced—he left his home in Italy for America before returning home, and my family moved from Trinidad and Jamaica to Manchester,” explains Davis. “They all crossed the water to discover new beginnings.”
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Sailor uniforms and the status they signify are both reconsidered and subverted: forms deconstructed; buttons displaced, and fastenings undone. Their wardrobe is equally refigured through fabrication: nautical knitwear needle-punched with chiffon to structure its form. Workwear parkas realized in textured nappa, their hoods lined with shearling.
Alongside utilitarian attire, the liberated elegance of the period’s eveningwear emerges—slip dresses were reimagined in foiled velvet lamé and floral jacquard; drapery came in big volumes an connoted the evolution of ruffles; cocooning outerwear evoked couture silhouettes layered atop long-line gowns. The collection mirrors the speakeasy, where all these elements come together in motion.
Like the artworks that depicted the era—the evocative dynamism of Cubist watercolors and the sepia-toned monochrome of Surrealist photography—the collection’s palette appears tinted by time. Organic cotton canvases and recycled nylons were dyed, while quilted leathers were aero-sprayed.
“It’s a translation of trying to imagine something from the past,” explains Davis. “In the original moment, it would have been vibrant, but now we are seeing it through the haze of history.” Punctuated by polished Gancini hardware, what results is an amalgam of past and present.
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In footwear, a new pointed stiletto and sling-back with a deep vamp inspired by the flat designed by Salvatore Ferragamo in 1954 appear in color contrasts that echo nautical uniforms. Some were elevated with jewels. Elsewhere, the architecture of the “shell sole”—a technique pioneered by Ferragamo where the sole wraps around the foot—informs the curvilinear detail of sandals with heels hybridized with the silhouette of a wedge.
In menswear, formal Oxfords are reconsidered through a contemporary perspective—their proportions elongated and their toes apron-stitched alongside a monk style fastened with a Hug closure and a clean, minimalist bootie.
In accessories, a graphic new bag silhouette—slim and sleek and fastened with a Gancini plate—is introduced in three sizes, while the East-West proportion of the Hug is animated in new colorways. For menswear, a utilitarian cross-body pocket bag is used alongside a Hug pouch featuring woven calf leather.
Watch the Ferragamo Fall 2026 show below:
