Salvatore Ferragamo looks to future in provocative film

July 21, 2021

The campaign features the brand’s FW21 collection. Image courtesy of Salvatore Ferragamo

Italian fashion house Salvatore Ferragamo is bringing audiences a futuristic narrative through a collaboration with three-time Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Wim Wenders.

Showcasing Ferragamo’s autumn/winter 2021 campaign, “A Future Together,” takes place on the set of a futuristic shoot and serves as a postmodern reflection of the vast possibilities of the future. As the brand has produced a fall collection that is both luxurious and provocative, Mr. Wenders aimed to create a visual story that is equally provocative and optimistic.

A Future Together
Shot on location at Milan’s CityLife complex, the film follows a stylish film director, played by Italian actress Gaia Girace, as she prepares her cast for a sci-fi-themed shoot.

Increasingly, however, her focus becomes interrupted by her sound engineer, played by musician and model Felix Sandman. They exchange quick glances throughout the day, suggesting there is a potential romantic connection between them.

Ferragamo looks to the future with latest film campaign

“Can an encounter on a film set turn into a love story?” a text overlay from the video asks.

The models share a flirtatious laugh while watching the film monitor.

Adding a third layer to the story-within-a-story structure, the photographic campaign for the collection includes a 24-image portfolio, captured by Vito Fernicola. Outfitting each element of the campaign is the autumn/winter 2021 collection, “Future Positive.”

The idea of the technologically advanced and conceptually futuristic collection is translated by Mr. Wenders into an exhilarating campaign that is simultaneously light-hearted.

“Developing a positively energetic story inside the framework of a futuristic setting is a challenge at a time when the future is generally regarded as bleak and dystopian,” Mr. Wenders said in a statement. “But sometimes, when the cards are stacked up against you and you have to fight many obstacles, the result can achieve an extra aura of beauty.

“This was definitely the case at our Ferragamo shoot,” he said. “Not only did the sun break through the gray sky of Milan, so that the futuristic sites could show their best potential, but also our two young stars were luminous and enchanted.”

Two main characters in the cinematic narrative. Image courtesy of Salvatore Ferragamo

Salvatore Ferragamo stated that the goal of this campaign is to appeal to those who are determined to shape their own destinies in a positive fashion by promoting a progressive message.

The collaboration with Mr. Wenders marks the latest chapter in the brand’s historic relationship with the evolution of film, dating back to Salvatore Ferragamo’s Hollywood Boot Shop in Santa Barbara in 1923.

Film and Ferragamo
Through previous campaigns, the Italian brand has highlighted the arguably intrinsic relationship between fashion and Hollywood.

In 2018, Ferragamo delved into its Hollywood history in an exhibit focusing on its eponymous founder’s time in Southern California.

The “Italy in Hollywood” exhibition at the Museo Salvatore Ferragamo in Florence centered on the designer’s work with film stars including Cecil B. DeMille, Joan Crawford and Charlie Chaplin, and looked at the broader impact of Italian immigration on California’s culture and cinema.

Along with the designer, many other Italian talents made their way to Southern California between 1915 to 1927, leaving their mark on the film industry. Curated and designed by Giuliana Muscio and Stefania Ricci to resemble a film set, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo’s exhibit shed light on this cultural exchange (see story).

More recently, the house took inspiration from iconic filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock for a suspenseful spring/summer 2021 campaign.

Ferragamo collaborated with Oscar-nominated director Luca Guadagnino for a short film featuring an ensemble cast sporting products from the brand including the slingback VIVA, top-handled Trifolio bag and Studio bags.

The short film starred Mariacarla Boscono, Maggie Cheng, Jonas Glöer, Samer Rahma and Anok Yai as they traverse the streets of Milan to a suspenseful soundtrack from Chinese musical artist B6.

The campaign specifically includes a cylinder-shaped bag that is meant to emulate a meaningful prop from Mr. Hitchcock’s 1964 film, Marnie (see story).

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Salvatore Ferragamo looks to future in provocative film

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