“I want to explore what contemporary essentials are, from denim to eveningwear,” designer and creative director Maximilian Davis said about his Ferragamo 2023 Pre-Fall Collection. “To take classic pieces in the everyday wardrobe and twist or subvert them with textures and materials that make them feel more modern, more playful and more unexpected.”

Yes, Ferragamo has dropped ‘Salvatore’ from its brand name — but not the luxury brand’s roots in Hollywood, where the founder opened his first store at 6685 Hollywood Boulevard in the spring of 1923.

New designer to watch, Davis headed to Hollywood in December 2022 to present his pre-fall collection, explaining why: “There’s an image of LA and Hollywood where you kind of pan away from the city and you see the mountains, so you see the contrast of the mountains with the palm trees. So there was this idea of mixing hot and cold.”

A creative team can leave Los Angeles and not only be in the mountains in short order. The desert also awaits — and Joshua Tree reads “visually primordial” in the 21st century, as AOC noted about Winnie Harlow’s recent shoot there with photographer Daniella Midenge.

Yes, former president Ronald Reagan absolutely advanced Hollywood as having a western soul but with glamour. I doubt that Maximilian Davis even knows Reagan’s bio, but there’s much to love with western flair in his pre-fall 2023 collection.

South Coast Plaza is the largest luxury shopping destination on the West Coast and an updated Ferragamo boutique resides there — in Republican country [where Democrats are making inroads with educated women]. Also, don’t think that Beverly Hills, where Davis went to present a small, spring 2023 capsule ‘The New Dawn’ collection for 17 stores before the holidays, doesn’t have major Republican donors.

Then we have the Silicon Valley technocrats, often political independents and libertarians. They should love the rich modernity in Davis’ Pre-Fall 2023 Ferragamo.

All systems are go, and the biggest compliment to Davis is that even though Ferragamo first quarter 2023 sales were soft — including in the US — the financial market reports AOC read are steady-she-goes. There was no panic; nor should there be.

Close friend of Maximilian Davis, Tyler Mitchell [IG], photographed the new Ferragamo campaign. AOC got on board early with Mitchell, who is currently a voice that is part of a landmark exhibition celebrating Richard Avedon’s birth, titled "Avedon 100’, now on view at Gagosian, West 21st Street, New York until June 24, 2023.

"Avedon 100" documents Avedon’s enduring influence on photography and profound global impression on visual culture. In an installation designed by Stefan Beckman (@stefanbeckman), the exhibition represents six decades of his oeuvre, including the "In the American West" series and images of the social justice movement, as well as classic portraiture, advertising, and fashion work.

Creative directors Charles Levai and Kevin Tekinel expand the visual vision of the campaign, styled by Mavi Staiano. Models include Anass Bouuazzaou, Lulu Tenney, Mamuor Majeng, and Sijia Kang.