Maximilian Davis - Designer, Creative Director of Ferragamo

[Olaffo]

^ Well I don't think anyone cares there. Gobetti secured hefty few million euros so he will repeat what he did at Burberry - leave before the end of his tenure and Davis will be dismissed in predictable future.

 

[Frederic01]

In Maximillian's defence it was the pricing strategy that was and will be the downfall of his Ferragamo. His things are priced at the level of Dior, Gucci, etc, whilst the brand image is at the level of Tods. Make it make sense!

Also the strategy to hire him and attempt to a Daniel-Lee-for-Bottega was so misguided. It's clear the family and the board have no idea what they are doing.

 

[style_expert]

The pricing is absolutely insane for certain pieces. To be honest, even in the menswear I found a few pieces I actually like of his SS24 but either the pricing put me off entirely and/or the unnecessary embroidered huge F on shirts etcetera, completely ruining a piece.
I don't really doubt Maximilians talents but this brand is completely off the rails when it comes to pricing and merchandising.

I did notice they start to push some entry-level prices items more such as sunglasses (really ugly ones) and small leather goods. More accessibly priced, but also completely unremarkable in any way so good luck with that too.

 

[Lola701]

What I’m happy about is that Gobbetti is taking his responsabilities. He is on the forefront and if Ferragamo continues to fail on the long run, he will take the blame.

I hope Maximilian is taking whatever he has to take there, whether is techniques and money!

But yes, Ferragamo can’t even compete against Gucci. Their price point should be aspirational.

I think what Maximillian is doing is solid but it’s insane to think that 1 year after his first collection, his offering is not fully represented in stores. Competitive pricing will drawn the people to the stores. Simple as that.

 

[tourbillions]

how is the distribution of ferragamo rtw? seems not that accessible. im sure if he doesnt find success in ferragamo, he will be taken by another house unless all this changes in branding was his idea from green to red to whatever next color they choose.

 

[Olaffo]

Ferragamo’s shop in London (Bond Street) is a joke: they haven’t changed interior since way before Davis, their window dressing is basically replacing one bag for a pair of shoes every month or so, no actual MD collections but rather watered down merch and people inside are so f*cking rude and unwelcoming. Retail and merch department is actively sabotaging the artistic vision and heads should roll.

 

[yslforever]

Ferragamo’s shop in London (Bond Street) is a joke: they haven’t changed interior since way before Davis, their window dressing is basically replacing one bag for a pair of shoes every month or so, no actual MD collections but rather watered down merch and people inside are so f*cking rude and unwelcoming. Retail and merch department is actively sabotaging the artistic vision and heads should roll.

It's the very same in all the Ferragamo shops, absolutely no efforts whatsoever to promote MD creations, and when there are, there are way overpriced anyway...

 

[Olaffo]

It's the very same in all the Ferragamo shops, absolutely no efforts whatsoever to promote MD creations, and when there are, there are way overpriced anyway...

In London it’s suicidal strategy bc literally next door you’ve got MaxMara which is so neat, clean and pleasant as experience. I feel like Davis doesn’t have a room to actually do a job bc if I were him and saw that mess in one of the most important (and profitable) streets on Earth, I’d be pissed.

 

[avonlea002]

I feel bad for Davis. I really like his collections. Have bought few dresses and pumps.

 

[yslforever]

In London it’s suicidal strategy bc literally next door you’ve got MaxMara which is so neat, clean and pleasant as experience. I feel like Davis doesn’t have a room to actually do a job bc if I were him and saw that mess in one of the most important (and profitable) streets on Earth, I’d be pissed.

And in Venice (Italy), they have imho the best location, the nicest building of the street and the largest windows ... Hermès's building looks miserable in comparison ...

 

[Drusilla_]

my local Ferragamo store got its sign replaced by the one with the new logo only recently, they certainly took their time about it.

 

[LadyJunon]

I really find the lack of commitement to Davis' Ferragamo to be a shame, because Davis is arguably the strongest designer of his generation. They constantly change their stylists and photography, they're slow to update the stores to the new branding, the window displays are lackluster, collection deliveries are consistently 1-2 months late. The products are strong, but the vision has no backbone and the management is messy.

 

[yslforever]

I really find the lack of commitement to Davis' Ferragamo to be a shame, because Davis is arguably the strongest designer of his generation. They constantly change their stylists and photography, they're slow to update the stores to the new branding, the window displays are lackluster, collection deliveries are consistently 1-2 months late. The products are strong, but the vision has no backbone and the management is messy.

I agree wholeheartly, one might wonder if it's total incompetence or passive sabotage from a faction of the family/management. By hearsay, it's the Dallas soap-opera in this family.
At least Gucci operations supported Ancora Guy. They committed to his mediocrity all-along, shows after shows, campaigns after campaign. If they can do it for subpar ideas, designs, and products, they might be able to follow better options.
So, is Davis an option for Gucci ? He has better taste and the experience of a messy heritage brand.

 

[PDFSD]

Maybe this helps to answer a bit more on the management skills :-) :
(July 2024)
Italian stock exchange regulators accuses Ferragamo of market manipulation and open a inquiry into the case ,according to CONSOB the company's management of Ferragamo knowly published overly upbeat financials assessments and made stock exchange transaction to stabilize the sock price of the company ... this is still a ongoing investigation that started this month into Ferragamo dealings.

Nonetheless Davis for me is limited in his design expression so far, this is not to be put on blame via mismanagement , its incohert and not distinctive enough his vision and designs of product output so far ...him changing stylist every show is not management it comes from him and is reflective of each ad campaign that seems to be another idea of a brand for Ferragamo,same for his influences seem to go from ng balenciaga to TF to Celine by phoebe and anything in between.

The result is flat and soulless even, you would expect from such a young person more daring and experimentation and be less of a fan of his fashion hero´s influences in the final work visible.

 

[rowjellies]

Nonetheless Davis for me is limited in his design expression so far, this is not to be put on blame via mismanagement , its incohert and not distinctive enough his vision and designs of product output so far ...him changing stylist every show is not management it comes from him and is reflective of each ad campaign that seems to be another idea of a brand for Ferragamo,same for his influences seem to go from ng balenciaga to TF to Celine by phoebe and anything in between.

The result is flat and soulless even, you would expect from such a young person more daring and experimentation and be less of a fan of his fashion hero´s influences in the final work visible.

flat and soulless is exactly how I feel. it's better than Paul Andrew's Ferragamo (low bar). but it also feels a touch dated? this whole "urban, adult, intellectual woman" thing, I think it would've done better if he did it in like 2016 or 2017, around the time Loewe and Daniel Lee were doing it.

 

[jeremydante]

Maximillian was tasked with a tougher job to make Ferragamo cool, and he has done that in ways that are unique for the much more classic approach that Ferragamo has taken for much of its existence. Even if he were dismissed, it's not necessarily a call out against his talent, vision and ability- it's really about the dated and stale nature of the customer. I would love to see Maximillian take on a bigger house, I would love to see what he'd do at Givenchy, my second choice would be Peter Hawkings. Maximillian took on a great role, he can't control the old customer of the label, he can only hope to influence. They wanted him to manage an overhaul. Just like Rhuigi at Bally, these are impossible asks past a certain point. Pressurized asks with no patience to invest in the CD, and entrust their vision- it's like, what are they looking for a puppet or an artist?

 

[tourbillions]

i wonder when ferragamo will finaly back him up full-heartedly? It seems they are trying to chase the whole rebranding/recoloring hype and forgetting that their talent is doing that in his own way with his clothes. They are too focused on the big picture than marketing the clothes he has made. Although not perfect, his collections has been quite fresh and very sexy. No gen-z codes in sight.

 

[LadyJunon]

i wonder when ferragamo will finaly back him up full-heartedly? It seems they are trying to chase the whole rebranding/recoloring hype and forgetting that their talent is doing that in his own way with his clothes. They are too focused on the big picture than marketing the clothes he has made. Although not perfect, his collections has been quite fresh and very sexy. No gen-z codes in sight.

His collections do have that warmth, sensuality and humour that most of his peers' work lack. It's flawed, but very refreshing.

 

[yslforever]

i wonder when ferragamo will finaly back him up full-heartedly? It seems they are trying to chase the whole rebranding/recoloring hype and forgetting that their talent is doing that in his own way with his clothes. They are too focused on the big picture than marketing the clothes he has made. Although not perfect, his collections has been quite fresh and very sexy. No gen-z codes in sight.

I don't think they are too focused on rebranding/recoloring, or even the big picture. It seems they aren't focused at all. It's an organization thing, we can see the departments have never worked together, on the same timeline and on the same project before. "Silk" is doing their thing, mens and womens shoes too, RTW another one, and the window display has planned another theme. And all of them are incoherent with the others.
And don't get me started on their website, if you open Bally and Ferragamo next to each other just like I did, it's day and night.

 

[Lola701]

Let’s be clear about one thing: we in TFS cares that much about clothes but the bread and butter of Ferragamo is not that.

I think it was a courageous decision for Gobbetti to hire Maximillian and I truly think that Maximillian is a talent. He needs polishing maybe mentoring in a way to have a full 360 vision but he is talent. Gobbetti took the chance on Tisci in 2005 and so he took the chance on Davis at Ferragamo.

I think beyond his work and his lack of clear vision, maybe there’s something about the interactions between the Ferragamo and the designer/talent thing that needs to be studied.

There’s a feeling that David has some kind of total freedom when it comes to the clothes and to what is shown on the runway but that it ends there. Their line up of products doesn’t make any type of sense. It’s very obvious because there’s a sense of modernity, slickness and sexiness in David products and the very Italian bourgeois classicism on the rest. So there’s truly a feeling of having 2 brands in one.

In a way, what Davis does is kind of generic as it’s very now and can fit into the ethos of a lot of brands but by not going fully for the overhaul, I don’t think the Family is allowing this tenure to work.

That being said, Davis makes them being part of the fashion conversation. Ferragamo can now be associated to celebrities and people who weren’t checking for them before.