Ferragamo’s Flapper Pajama Party
Anders Christian Madsen reviews the Ferragamo Spring/Summer 2026 collection by Maximilian Davis.
On Saturday morning, less than twelve hours after the Milan leg of this season’s EE72 launch parties had wrapped in the very same location, a giant circular structure had been erected in the courtyard of the Portrait Milano hotel. Ferragamo—which owns the hotel—staged a show dedicated to the American silent movie star Lola Todd, who its founder, Salvatore, dressed in a daring leopard print in 1925. “We have an image in the archive where the dress is in leopard print, the tights are in leopard print, and the coat is in leopard print,” Maximilian Davis said after the show. “I was curious to see what the reason was for designing something like that at the time. At the time, those textiles were being imported from Africa and the Caribbean as a sign of wealth and status, and I thought that was quite interesting.”
The discovery prompted an exploration of the Africana movement of the Jazz Age, which Davis expressed in suits wrapped in satin sashes below the waist, purified flapper dresses emblazoned with abstracted leopard prints, and dance dresses with magnified fringing. As the show progressed, the constructions transitioned into loungewear: dramatic caftans, complex pajama constructions, and oversized takes on the men’s lounge jacket. Sleepwear and the early- to mid-20th-century idea of clothes you wear for entertaining at home have been big in Milan this week, from Alberta Ferretti’s exploration of housecoats to Dolce & Gabbana’s comprehensive study of pajamas. Davis’s adaptation was louche and luxe—the Ferragamo way—and infused with reflections of the changing female roles of the time.
FERRAGAMO
“This was a moment where women were creating a new femininity—it was a celebration of freedom, a reclaiming of self,” he said. “It was a period when people were creating spaces for themselves and rebelling against societal norms—and that spirit translated into people’s wardrobes.” Anno 2025, the hankering for a soft silhouette—for the unconstrained—feels more like a need for calm amid a news cycle that’s stressing us out. There’s a certain irony in going to shows watching floaty, silky pajamas and—in the case of Simone Rocha in London—pillows being carried as prime accessories on the runways while the person next to you is saying, “Did you hear that Russia flew drones into Scandinavia yesterday?” You could put it down to escapism, but actually, the season’s sleep-centric wardrobe is just as much a protest against the escalation of this omnipresent global stress factor hovering over everyone’s heads.
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