The-Shoe-Treasures-Hidden-Away-Within-the-Salvatore-Ferragamo-Archive
At Milan Vogue Week, Salvatore Ferragamo wowed audiences with an audacious collection of sporty platforms. But the Italian label has a protracted history of nice design, dating back to the late 1920s. A lot of that historical past is preserved in the company’s archive and museum in Florence, Italy.
Stefania Ricci, Ferragamo’s museum and archive director, shared a couple of inside particulars concerning the historical collection and some of its most worthy pieces.
How many objects are within the archive?
“We have near 15,000 because we also acquire the newest collections.”
Which piece is the oldest?
“We have a shoe that dates to 1927, when Salvatore Ferragamo came back from the U.S. The identify of the shoe is Labyrinth. This shoe has on the higher a special embroidery, which is handmade in silk. It’s like a cubist drawing, and it’s very dramatic.”
What's the most precious shoe?
“ Suggested Browsing have a golden shoe that Ferragamo made in 1966 for an Australian buyer. It was very important because it was 18k gold and was made with a goldsmith on Ponte Vecchio. The shoes value $1,000 in the 1960s. Also, we have now another sandal that we made for a charity for Elton John in 2001, and there are diamonds on the shoes. The value of those was greater than 25,000 euros [or $25,800 at current change].”
Does the archive embrace shoes worn by celebrities?
“Yes, we have quite a lot of shoes made for Marilyn Monroe, Greta Garbo, Audrey Hepburn and others.”
What is your favourite piece in the gathering?
“It’s not easy to pick, as a result of they're like items of art and are so totally different. Certainly one of my favorites is a laced shoe that is manufactured from cellophane, which is often used to cowl bonbons. ferragamos cinturones used it throughout the nineteen thirties, because it was the start of the second World War and it was impossible to get leather-based for the shoes. A field of bonbons was given to his mother, so he had the idea to present the cellophane to the women that work with cotton, and so they crocheted the higher of the shoe. It’s a good looking shoe. It’s black cellophane and it additionally has yellow and pink cellophane. Very elegant, but very new and unique.”
Does the archive inspire current Ferragamo designs?
“Yes, for instance, within the fall ’16 trend show for men in Milan, Massimiliano Giornetti used a particular shoe made by Salvatore Ferragamo for Andy Warhol. It’s a lace-up shoe in Kautschuk [rubber], however it’s painted by Andy Warhol.
