In the Season of the Scarf, Salvatore Ferragamo’s Sumatra Print Stands Out

In the Season of the Scarf, Salvatore Ferragamo’s Sumatra Print Stands Out

Have I ever met a scarf I didn’t like? Once or twice, certainly—but not recently. Lucky for me, these magic squares of silk, and scarf prints, have been given new life by designers who have of late shaken off scarves’ granny associations while emphasizing their vintage appeal. Cue Grace Kelly, Brigitte Bardot, Jackie O . . . the list goes on. At Gucci, artists like Nathalie Lété and the trio behind Antoinette Poisson have been tapped to create unique scarf works; prints have also been used as yardage at emerging brands like Richard Quinn and Marine Serre. They also have reappeared in new ways at the heritage house of Salvatore Ferragamo, where Paul Andrew made the leap from design director, shoes to creative director in February. Naturally, this talented Brit has access to the archives (located in the Palazzo Spini Feroni in Florence, where the brand’s namesake once worked), and he makes use of them.

In the Season of the Scarf, Salvatore Ferragamo’s Sumatra Print Stands Out

Known as “Hollywood’s cobbler,” Salvatore Ferragamo dreamed big. His goal, explains Andrew, was “wardrobing women”—head to toe. In 1974, the shoemaker’s daughter Fulvia introduced the brand’s first silk collection featuring prints that referenced her father’s travels and love of nature. “Every time I open the archives, there’s a new discovery,” says Andrew. He unearthed two 1997 scarf designs, Vulcano (volcano) and Tucano (toucan) to use for Resort. But line-for-line replicas these are not. His composite Sumatra print combines two archival patterns using a splicing technique that might just become a house signature. “It happens that creativity is often realized through a process that is one part skill, one part emotion, and one part happenstance,” Andrew tells Vogue. “I had been in the archives exploring a multitude of prints as a starting point for something new and, as chance would have it, I left one print on the scanner as I intended to image another, and the printer realized a dual pattern ‘splice technique.’ A craft is born!”

And so is a longer wish list for me. Here’s hoping there will be some square, ribbon-tied boxes under the tree.

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