Hit the Streets of Milan to Discover Salvatore Ferragamo’s New Collection

Italian fashion house Salvatore Ferragamo is upping the creativity yet again by sharing its spring-summer 2021 collection through a series of online games. Enigma is set in the streets of Milan and tests players’ memories, observation skills, logic and intuition, with the end goal of solving a case.

Enigma was designed to sit alongside the Hitchcock-esque short film directed by Luca Guadagnino. The movie introduced the collection worn by models in iconic locations in Milan including Parco dell'Idroscalo, Vio Chiossetto, and Galleria Strasburgo.

The collection was inspired by creative director Paul Andrew’s rewatching of classic Hitchcock films, so it seemed like a natural progression to showcase the collection with its own suspenseful film. However, Enigma takes the digital age of high fashion to a new level.

“The game Enigma stems from an idea of enriching interaction between Ferragamo and the public, increasing the brand’s capacity to engage also with new generations, using the universal language of playing," said CEO Micaela le Divelec Lemmi. "It is an innovative ambitious digital experience that aims to create dynamic engagement with the players who, thanks to simple moves, can choose to penetrate the Ferragamo universe using the touchpoints, both digital and physical, they are most familiar with."

Enigma has the same sense of suspense as the collection launch film and uses the same Hitchcock-inspired Technicolour palette as the film and the collection.

Players are required to solve four enigmas by playing individual games such as a word search and a memory test. Once all the enigmas are solved, they earn early access to the SS21 Online Exclusive drop, can add the enigmas to their story and try the personalised Instagram filter.

Of course, Ferragamo isn’t the only luxury brand to be making a strong foray into the world of digital interactivity.

As a result of the pandemic, most fashion houses have shifted their seasonal collection launches, including Fashion Week, to virtual events and digital platforms and are having to get creative to make up for the lack of IRL Champagne and air kisses.

New media, such as digital games, Instagram, OnlyFans and Discord, are letting brands innovate to generate that kind of excitement and cultivate relationships with new generations of fans, in a way that would never have been possible before.

Traditional Fashion Week shows are extremely exclusive, accessible by only a few privileged people. But by sharing collections in a way that feels just as intimate (through interactive, social platforms), designers are giving themselves a stronger sense of authenticity and creating strong bonds with customers who would never before have had the opportunity to interact with their favourite brands.

It also allows brands to generate organic excitement around Fashion Month well before and beyond the season—just as Ferragamo is doing with its Enigma game.

And so far, we’re big fans of this collaborative, new-media approach to luxury brands. As far as we’re concerned, fashion has never been this fun—or this interactive. If you’ll excuse us, we’re hitting the streets of Milan to solve some mysteries.

Speaking of Ferragamo, the brand’s latest exhibition about silk is worth checking out.