Magazine
The Man Behind Ferrari’s Fashion Line on What Fuels His Designs
Rocco Iannone is inspired by Joshua Tree, his middle school teacher and cats.
A few months ago, I brought the Ferrari creative team to Lago di Monate (1) outside of Milan to brainstorm the next fashion show. But we weren’t just putting together mood boards; we were sharing personal stories. My father, Giuseppe, who owned a cereal producing company, taught me the importance of giving and receiving love. This picture of us from my childhood (2), taken in 1986, captures a spontaneous moment.
Credit…Courtesy of Rocco Iannone (3)
As a middle school student, I had a strong connection to my art teacher. She was a big collector of clothes — she’d wear Jean Paul Gaultier and Versace — and she helped me understand that I could turn fashion into a career. One day, she showed me this ring (3) she’d bought for herself. It’s got an onyx stone with a little gold sculpture of [Cupid] and Psyche. Eventually, when I decided to study fashion and then become a designer, our roles sort of reversed: I showed her how to dress. When I turned 40 earlier this year, she gave me the ring. I was so touched when I opened the box.
In the summer of 2017, after a decade at Giorgio Armani, I [spent a couple of years at the men’s wear label] Pal Zileri, where I’d been appointed creative director for the first time. Being a creative director gives me the opportunity to really express myself. The spring 2024 Ferrari collection was a turning point for me. A few years into working for the brand, I was able to focus my idea of Ferrari as fashion. This look on Anja Rubik from that collection (4) is like a couture piece. It’s leather, which is very Ferrari, with rounded shapes and clean lines; the stitching on the sleeves recalls a racing check. The title of Ferrari’s fall 2024 collection was The Body, the Energy, the Light. For me, this Purosangue black suit (5), which has a touch of red in it, represents that combination. It was inspired by a Tony Cragg sculpture (6), which I first saw, surrounded by olive trees and next to the ruins of a Greek theater, [at the Scolacium Archaeological Park] in Calabria. The mix of contemporary art with that landscape was amazing.
