"Any fashion folks who find themselves in the vast courtyard at the heart of the Portrait Milano hotel may experience a fleeting sense of déjà vu. Just four months ago, the 32,000-square-foot piazza was covered from corner to corner in sand, all colored the precise shade of sultry scarlet that has become the Ferragamo brand’s signature since it was taken over by the 27-year-old British wunderkind designer Maximilian Davis. Traipsing across its center—and under the arches of the colonnade skirting it—was a who’s who of It models toting the brand’s luxurious leather goods, in what served as one of the splashiest fashion debuts of the season. It turns out the property, which sits smack-bang in the center of Milan’s fashion district—just steps away from Via Montenapoleone, one of the world’s most prestigious shopping destinations—has been part of the Ferragamo family’s story for almost a decade now, albeit as part of their other major venture: hotels. (The family first stumbled across the former seminary—commissioned by the Archbishop of Milan during the Counter-Reformation in the 16th century—in 2013, before spending two years wrestling with the Catholic Church for a lease on the building.)" - Liam Hess