Not unlike the Dolce & Gabbana show earlier in the day, the Salvatore Ferragamo runway presentation began with a short film. Ferragamo's clip celebrated the house history, flashing on images of such famous clients as Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, and Greta Garbo, whose personal style is the subject of a just-opened exhibition sponsored by the Italian brand at the Milan Triennale. Massimiliano Giornetti, the company's menswear designer, has just taken over the reins on the women's side, and the subtext of the video was clear: He would be returning the brand to its roots.

His predecessor, Cristina Ortiz, had struggled to find the appropriate tone for the contemporary iteration of the label. Giornetti's collection looked more like a seventies interpretation of Garbo's wardrobe than her thirties originals, but that, in its own way, is rather fortuitously in keeping with the mood of the season. Focusing on staples, he sent out rangy suede trenches and leather-edged capes. On the suit front, there was a pinstripe three-piecer that looked cut for the current Ferragamo customer, as well as a menswear check jacket worn with matching cuffed shorts seemingly designed to woo a new, young one. A gray camp shirt, paired with a long, pleated black leather skirt, and belted Lurex-shot sweater dresses were among the more casual offerings. Accessorizing it all were timely looking fedoras, shoulder-strap bags that hit at the hip, and matte crocodile knee-high boots. For nights on the town, things were flashier, but just a bit. The Ferragamo woman can go with a liquid bronze jersey gown or a metal-embroidered tunic-length tank with cropped pants.

As she was walking out, a fellow observer remarked, "That's what Ferragamo should look like." She was right.