Legendary Factory Records designer Peter Saville just made his runway debut

Legendary designer Peter Saville’s relationship with fashion is well-documented. Having made his name as one of the founding fathers of Factory Records, where he created seminal (and frankly fucking brilliant) artwork for records by Joy Division, The Durutti Column, and New Order, Saville’s prolific output has gone on to inspire everyone from Martin Margiela and Yohji Yamamoto, to Jun Takahashi and Virgil Abloh. And that’s before we even get started on his collaborations with Saville uber-stan Raf Simons and Riccardo Tisci, who tasked him with totally overhauling the Burberry logo (just the 150 years of history in his hands, no big deal).

Where Saville has mostly stayed behind the scenes when it comes to his involvement with the fashion industry, though, tonight that all changed - after revered Italian label Salvatore Ferragamo enlisted him to join its model line-up at its SS20 show at Pitti in Florence.

Wearing a navy blue polo-neck sweater, with a workwear-inspired tonal jumpsuit - finished with heavy-duty white leather boots, Saville took to the runway to a soundtrack provided by David Bowie, Bryan Ferry, and Grace Jones, joining the likes of Hero Fiennes-Tiffin and actor Josh Lucas as part of a diverse cast made up of men of all different ages (and a few women).

Elsewhere, models were seen wearing loose, 80s archive print shirts, tailored leather trousers, shorts, and vests, tech-y parkas, and casual tees bearing the Ferragamo logo. Finishing many of the looks off were a series of cut-out leather sandals worn (unapologetically) with pale-hued socks, because, love it or hate it, the trend for dressing like a middle-aged tourist gone sightseeing is going absolutely nowhere next season (resistance is futile).

Stay tuned for more coverage from the Pitti Immagine shows as they happen by following our dedicated fashion IG here.