As only the second young Black designer to helm a major luxury brand, Maximilian Davis has the potential to connect Ferragamo to a global audience
A new era at Salvatore Ferragamo is on the horizon, now that the Italian luxury fashion brand has named Maximilian Davis as its creative director.
Davis, who begins his new role on March 16, will succeed Paul Andrew following the latter’s two-year stint at the helm of the luxury brand. He was appointed by Ferragamo CEO Marco Gobbetti, who formerly led Burberry for five years.
What could Davis, a 26-year-old designer who only launched his eponymous brand in 2020, bring to a luxury fashion house that’s almost a century old? In short, a fresh but fully realised design perspective that will revitalise Ferragamo and connect it to a new (and younger) audience.
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For the unacquainted, Davis is a Trinidadian-British designer who studied at the London College of Fashion. Upon his graduation in 2017, he trained under some of brightest emerging talents from London’s fashion scene, including Mowalola, Supriya Lele and LVMH Prize Winner Grace Wales Bonner.
He also connected with other in-demand and influential creatives in the fashion industry, namely Dazed editor-in-chief Ib Kamara (who notably styled Virgil Abloh’s Louis Vuitton collections) and photographer Rafael Pavarotti, who has shot several Vogue covers as well as campaigns for Dior, Dries Van Noten and H&M.
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Kamara and Pavarotti came together to create the first lookbook for Davis’ eponymous fashion brand in 2020. The visuals, which featured a cast of Black models against vividly-hued backdrops, went viral on Instagram for its celebration of Black beauty—and formally introduced the talented Davis to the fashion world.
“There’s a community behind it,” said the designer. “We all want to support each other in some way or another to come together and create something great.”