Ferrari starts in fashion

The small town of Maranello, in Emilia-Romagna, is used to receiving visitors. They all gravitate towards a specific point: the headquarters of Ferrari, and its factory, where 10,000 cars are produced a year. Buyers willing to pay at least 200,000 euros per vehicle are entitled to private viewings. And tourists roam the company museum, leaving with miniature cars bought in the adjoining shop.

Sunday, June 13, tourists gave way to models, makeup artists, hairdressers and journalists, who came to attend a fashion show organized in the assembly line. In the audience, in front of a backlit podium, Jonathan Ive, designer of Apple products, sat alongside designer Marc Newson, three-starred chef Massimo Bottura and Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr., F1 driver and new recruit of the Scuderia Ferrari.

The whole audience was eyeing John Elkann. The 45-year-old Italian-American is the heir to the Agnelli empire, which with the holding company Exor, owns the majority of Fiat-Chrysler, Juventus of Turin, the press group The Economist… And therefore Ferrari, that its holding company holds 24%. If John Elkann was in the center of attention, it was because the event was major: the presentation of Ferrari’s first ready-to-wear collection.

Marriage might surprise. Because, for the time being, “Ferrari fashion” boils down to nylon polo shirts or caps, sold in airport shops or the main shopping streets. But Ferrari wants to change. “Over the past few years, we have closed a large number of licenses, explains Nicola Boari, Head of Diversification, there have been amazing things in the past, computers, perfume, and even shampoo! » Rocco Iannone, 37, who worked in Giorgio Armani’s studio and for a time at the helm of the Pal Zileri brand, has been appointed creative director. “I consulted many archives, in particular old advertisements or photographs, like that of Anna Magnani, one of the first customers, at the wheel”, he confided the day before the parade.

His collection is made up of direct references: shirts covered with a giant logo, polo shirts printed with vintage photos, pilot’s gloves. But also more subtle nods: parkas reminiscent of a fuselage, raincoat evoking a mechanic’s overalls, ear cuffs in the shape of Cavallino, the brand’s trained black horse. The collection has been available since Monday morning on e-commerce platforms and will be available in specialist shops.

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