Michael Jordan with his black Ferrari 512 TR and “M AIR J” license plate, Sylvester Stallone in Rocky IV in old-school Adidas crouched on a fiery red supercar that didn’t quite look like a Ferrari, Christopher Lambert in a Ferrari 550 and a hitman-smooth trench: Rocco Iannone’s moodboard for this pre-spring collection was especially fueled by US references. The clincher was a general view of a Testarossa parked somewhere in midtown Manhattan in the 1980s. All of which contextualized the positioning of a collection designed to coincide with the opening of Ferrari’s new flagship fashion store in New York City later this year.
Apart from some embroidery featuring Gotham’s bridges, Iannone worked most explicitly to evoke the season’s state of mind through a Ferrari-flavored melting-pot mix. Jersey was blended with utility separates in looks touched by formality but also a freewheeling approach to putting elements together. Said the designer: “What comes out from this board is this combination between tailoring and sportswear. When I meet our people, our community, they always love to mix those two things.”
Leather jackets are currently in pole position as Ferrari’s best-selling category: supercharged examples here included a brown leather bomber worked to resemble corduroy, and a shiny black women’s racing jacket worn with matching full-legged pants. However most sculptural outerwear came in what Iannone called a techno cotton drill: a cotton with a blended rubber component that gave rounded volume to utility jackets and a trench with a covered buckle.
A dark denim suit and sportier matching separates were cut in what Iannone dsecribed as laboratory-developed Q-Cycle denim jacquard, its monogram worked into the weave rather than printed over it. “The Prancing Horse on the surface, like on silk,” he said. “This is the most sophisticated way to play with the logo.” Iannone’s menswear and womenswear share the same garage, but here they did not always take the same road. For women, the collection’s most body-conscious pieces came in knitwear as well as jersey, a category he linked to clients who “do Pilates” and “take care about wellbeing.” There was also a small capsule of upcoming Ferrari fitness accessories tucked away in the showroom alongside small leather accessories made from automotive upholstery offcuts.
Iannone said: “This is the ideal wardrobe of our Ferraristi. They are our community, they are our clients. They love fashion, they love the art of living, and we are working for them. I am here to serve their needs, but through my lens, always.”