Massimiliano Giornetti is an Italian fashion designer whose career links collection-making with the education of new designers. His work at Salvatore Ferragamo developed from menswear into leadership across the house’s products. As director of Polimoda, he has brought that studio experience back to the Florence school where he trained.

After studying fashion design at Polimoda, Giornetti began working in Rome with Anton Giulio Grande. He joined Ferragamo’s menswear division in July 2000 and became its creative director four years later. The progression placed a designer with experience of clothing inside a company whose reputation began with shoes, asking him to give the larger wardrobe a coherent identity.

In 2010, his remit expanded to women’s ready-to-wear and overall creative leadership. His Ferragamo years connected formal dress with a relaxed understanding of Italian luxury, giving knitwear and leather an active role alongside tailoring. He left the house in 2016 and subsequently worked on the renewal of Shanghai Tang. In 2019, he became head of Polimoda’s fashion design department, taking over as the school’s director in February 2021.

“Fashion schools should function like a gym,” Giornetti told 1 Granary, describing education as a place to train, make mistakes and learn to push personal limits. His move into education gave that belief a practical setting. His appointment as creative director of Drumohr in 2025 also kept him involved in collection-making, joining the responsibilities of teaching with the material questions of an established knitwear business.