Background
Mr. Ferragamo was born in Bonito, Campania, Italy, on June 5, 1898, and grew up among thirteen siblings.
Young Salvatore Ferragamo.
Salvatore with famous customer Joan Crawford, 1928.
Salvatore Ferragamo, Florence, Italy.
Salvatore Ferragamo, Florence, Italy, 1953.
Salvatore Ferragamo and Sofia Loren.
Clockwise from left - Vivia and her husband, Alessandro Attolico, Ferruccio, his son Francesco, and Filippo and Nicoletta.
An old photo of Fiamma, Fulvia, Giovanna, Leonardo, Wanda, Ferruccio, Massimo, and Salvatore.
Young Salvatore Ferragamo.
Salvatore with famous customer Joan Crawford, 1928.
Salvatore Ferragamo, Florence, Italy.
Salvatore Ferragamo, Florence, Italy, 1953.
Salvatore Ferragamo presents his creation, 'kimo', a sandal with a coloured leather sock. Photograph by David Lees, 1951.
Salvatore Ferragamo and Sofia Loren.
Italian shoe designer at his Via Manelli workshop in Florence about 1955.
Clockwise from left - Vivia and her husband, Alessandro Attolico, Ferruccio, his son Francesco, and Filippo and Nicoletta.
An old photo of Fiamma, Fulvia, Giovanna, Leonardo, Wanda, Ferruccio, Massimo, and Salvatore.
Mr. Ferragamo was born in Bonito, Campania, Italy, on June 5, 1898, and grew up among thirteen siblings.
Salavtore Ferragamo started his passion for shoes at an early age. Making his first pair of shoes aged nine for his sisters confirmation, Mr. Ferragamo decided he had found his craft. He was studying the art of shoemaking for a year in Naples, when he was eleven years old.
After studying shoemaking in Naples, Mr. Ferragamo opened a small store based in his parent's home. Then he decided to emigrate, he moved to Boston in 1914, where one of his brothers worked in a cowboy boot factory. After a short time working at the factory, Salvatore Ferragamo convinced his brothers to move to California. Residing in Santa Barbara, he opened a boot shop in 1919. Four years later, Mr. Ferragamo opened another boot shop in Hollywood. He was fascinated by modern working methods and machinery, but he also noticed its limitations in quality. Here, he found his success and became popular amid celebrities.
In 1927, Salvatore Ferragamo returned back to his native country, settling in Florence. During this time, he began fashioning shoe-wear for powerful and wealthy women, such as Eva Peron, Queen of Cooch Behar (West Bengal), Marilyn Monroe and many more. Opening a workshop in the Via Mannelli, he started to experiment with design. In 1938, he invented the cork wedge heel. The same year Mr. Ferragamo bought a new building, the Palazzo Spini Feroni, opening the Florence store in the building. New shops where opening in London and Rome the same year.
During World War II Mr. Ferragamo was faced with a lack of materials to design his shoes. He chose cheaper materials like Raffia and Cork to carry on creatively expressing himself through his design. In the 1950s, the designer extended his business by employing 700 professional artisans who manufactured more than 340 pairs of handmade footwear each day.
In 1949 Salvatore Ferragamo created his first bag, initially for the purpose to carry his tools. In 1951, during his first Italian fashion show in Florence Mr. Ferragamo launched the Kimo, a sandal with an interchangeable ankle-sock. Three years later, he designed one of his most iconic styles, a suede ballerina shoe with a strap, for Audrey Hepburn.
He started designing silk scarves in 1955, inspired by Italian symbols. Ten years later, production on bags started as well as the first ready-to-wear clothing collection designed by Giovanna Gentile Ferragamo.
Salvatore Ferragamo worked with many Hollywood stars in the 1920s, before returning to Italy to found the eponymous company making unique handmade footwear. His scientific and creative approach to shoes spawned many innovations such as the wedge heel and cage heel. Film stars and celebrities continue to patronize his company, which has evolved into an international empire spanning the world.
A museum dedicated to Mr. Ferragamo's life and work opened in the Palazzo Spini Feroni in 1995. The palazzo had been bought by him in the 1930s.
Quotations:
"There is no limit to beauty, no saturation point in design, no end to the material."
"Elegance and comfort are not incompatible, and whoever maintains the contrary simply doesn't know what he's talking about."
"I am blessed or cursed, depending on how you look at it, with an incurably restless spirit and the ability to work hard."
"India will be tomorrow what China is today."
Salvatore Ferragamo was married to Wanda Ferragamo Miletti. Together they had six children.
