Rebirth is really on-trend this season. Fall fashion campaign season is officially underway, and the Italian luxury house Ferragamo easily scores the most impressive set design. Nine Renaissance masterworks—including pieces by Sandro Botticelli, Francesco Granacci, and Giovanni Bellini—are featured in the advertisements. The Florence-headquartered heritage brand partnered with the world-renowned Uffizi Gallery, which opened its doors to the public in 1769, to create the striking imagery.
Fall/Winter 2023. Courtesy of Ferragamo.
It’s a rather gobsmacking collaboration and the very embodiment of art overlapping with fashion. The photographer Tyler Mitchell shot the images, which sumptuously evoke Renaissance beauty and ideals (and yes, the backdrops are unparalleled.) Part of the series also seems to riff on Richard Avedon’s photos of Andy Warhol’s Factory with a depiction of Mitchell documenting the cast in clothes ranging from minimalist chic to nuovo-disco glam. Among the models are the musician Kelela and sound artist Yasmina Dexter.
Kelela in Fall/Winter 2023. Courtesy of Ferragamo.
Artworks featured are Alesso Baldovinetti’s Annunciation (1457), Giovanni Bellini’s Holy Allegory (1490–1500), Paolo Veronese’s Annunciation (1570–75), Francesco Granacci’s Joseph Going to Prison (1515), Giorgio Vasari’s Portrait of Alessandro de Medici (1534), Botticelli’s Portrait of a Man with a Medal of Cosimo the Elder (1475), Botticelli’s The Annunciation of San Martino alla Scala (1481), and Piero della Francesca’s Diptych of Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza (1467–1472).
Ferragamo itself is going through a renaissance. It made waves in 2022 when it was announced that 22-year-old, Manchester-born Maximilian Davis would be taking the reins as creative director of the nearly century-old brand. It was part of a slew of Gen Z upstart appointments at fashion houses. Davis has done an exemplary job, respecting the houses’s codes while thoroughly modernizing and reinvigorating its vision.
Photographer Tyler Mitchell staged himself shooting the Fall/Winter 2023 campaign. Courtesy of Ferragamo.
In a statement, Davis said, “The Renaissance is hardwired into Florence, and Florence is hardwired into Ferragamo. At this time of a new beginning at the house, it made perfect sense to reclaim the cradle of the Renaissance as our spiritual home, and to harness the deep, artistic spirit of this city to showcase the new collection.”
