Maximilian Davis reimagines mid-century silhouettes with sheer layers, latex, and a fetish-tinged sensuality at Milan Fashion Week.
A distinct energy pulsed through Milan Fashion Week this season, and Maximilian Davis amplified it considerably at Ferragamo's presentation inside the Triennale Museum. The designer delivered what stands among his most sensual collections yet, mining 1940s workwear for inspiration while stripping away any hint of nostalgia.
Davis took the decade's structured silhouettes—pantsuits, mix-and-match blouses—and transformed them into something far more provocative. "It was a period when clothing, and its structure, created a certain posture and propriety: the placement of a pocket could dictate how you would stand and behave," he explained in his show notes. "I wanted to take elements of that silhouette and modernize it for today."
The collection opened with a double-breasted coatdress pulled into an hourglass shape by two bold belts, establishing the utilitarian thread that ran throughout. Robust outerwear followed, including a green croc-embossed midi coat and flared car coats for men. Between these tailored pieces, transparent layers introduced glimpses of skin and a subtler, more subversive tone.
Sensuality through material
The body took center stage in sheer pencil skirts that exposed undergarments, a close-fitting technical minidress, and abundant latex. Anok Yai closed the show in a shimmering paillette evening gown, but it was her accompanying trench—crafted entirely from blue latex in a 1940s cut—that delivered the collection's most overtly fetishistic moment.
Davis pointed to the women of that era who seized control of their own stories as inspiration. "I was inspired by the women of the era who were taking ownership of their own narrative: who were subjects of imagery but also traveled the world to create their own," he said, referencing a Lee Miller exhibition at the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris.
The designer's command of fabric—evidenced earlier this week when Rihanna wore one of his pleated designs in Paris—manifested here in juxtapositions of translucent rubber, rigid leather, and weightless sheer silk. These material contrasts lent the collection a surrealist quality, an intentional reference Davis acknowledged.
This Ferragamo feels increasingly intimate and risk-taking. The fetish-coded materials carried a playful knowingness in their gloss and tactile presence. Yet the erotic charge remained with the wearer: she chose what to expose, what to hide, and what meaning to assign. The fantasy was hers to command.