The relentless parade of entrances and exits in the design offices of major fashion labels of late — which has given the industry the whiplash pace of a Benny Hill chase — shows no sign of abating. On Thursday, Salvatore Ferragamo announced that Massimiliano Giornetti, its creative director, has left the brand.
Mr. Giornetti, 44, was a longtime Ferragamo hand. He joined the company as part of its men’s wear design team in 2000, and was promoted to creative director, overseeing the men’s and women’s collections, in 2011.
Like many designers taking on historic labels, he was tasked with invigorating a longstanding legacy and balancing Ferragamo’s footwear heritage with new fashion interest.
“He knows Ferragamo so well that he is able to bring new ideas, while every season is about working on the DNA of the brand,” James Ferragamo, Mr. Ferragamo’s grandson, said in an interview in 2011.
Those new ideas sometimes landed — as with his maximalist, houndstooth collection for fall 2011, which briefly made tony Ferragamo the stuff of street-style photographs and outré Lady Gaga appearances — and sometimes foundered.
When his collections were well received, Mr. Giornetti was often praised for polish and poise, but this could be a double-edged sword. Guy Trebay, the men’s wear fashion critic for The New York Times, reviewing Mr. Giornetti’s most recent men’s wear collection in January, faulted it for “an excess of correctness.”
Mr. Giornetti is only the latest designer to leave an accustomed perch, a trend that is especially pronounced in men’s wear.
In February, three designers left their respective positions: Stefano Pilati departed Ermenegildo Zegna Couture, where he had been head of design since 2012; Alessandro Sartori from Berluti, where he had been artistic director since 2011; and Brendan Mullane from Brioni, where he had been creative director since 2012.
Mr. Sartori was subsequently named artistic director of all Ermenegildo Zegna brands. Yesterday, Brioni announced that Justin O’Shea, a lavishly tattooed Australian retailer, formerly of the e-commerce site MyTheresa.com, would be its new creative director.
Ferragamo seems to be in no hurry to appoint a successor to Mr. Giornetti, preferring instead to rely on an internal design team.
“We will take this opportunity to revisit our creative approach,” Michele Norsa, the group chief executive of Salvatore Ferragamo, said in a statement. “Over time the company has nurtured and sponsored many young designers and is fortunate to be able to count on an excellent in-house team.”
By MATTHEW SCHNEIER
Source New York Times
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