The-Shoe-Treasures-Hidden-Away-In-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 long historical past of nice design, relationship back to the late 1920s. A lot of that history is preserved in the company’s archive and museum in Florence, Italy.

Stefania Ricci, Ferragamo’s museum and archive director, shared a few inside details about the historic collection and some of its most respected pieces.

What number of items are in the archive?
“We have near 15,000 because we additionally gather the latest collections.”

Which piece is the oldest?
“We have a shoe that dates to 1927, when Salvatore Ferragamo came back from the U.S. The name of the shoe is Labyrinth. salvatore ferragamo store has on the higher a special embroidery, which is handmade in silk. It’s like a cubist drawing, and it’s very dramatic.”

What is the most beneficial shoe?
“We have a golden shoe that Ferragamo made in 1966 for an Australian customer. ferragamo bag was crucial as a result of it was 18k gold and was made with a goldsmith on Ponte Vecchio. The footwear price $1,000 in the 1960s. Additionally, we now have one other sandal that we made for a charity for Elton John in 2001, and there are diamonds on the shoes. The worth of those was more than 25,000 euros [or $25,800 at present exchange].”

Does the archive embrace sneakers worn by celebrities?
“Yes, now we have a number of sneakers made for Marilyn Monroe, Greta Garbo, Audrey Hepburn and others.”

What is your favourite piece in the gathering?


“It’s not easy to select, as a result of they are like items of art and are so totally different. One in all my favorites is a laced shoe that's manufactured from cellophane, which is normally used to cowl bonbons. Ferragamo used it throughout the nineteen thirties, because it was the beginning of the second World Warfare and it was unattainable to get leather for the sneakers. A field of bonbons was given to his mom, so he had the idea to give the cellophane to the girls that work with cotton, and they crocheted the higher of the shoe. It’s a gorgeous shoe. It’s black cellophane and it also has yellow and crimson cellophane. Very elegant, but very new and distinctive.”

Does the archive inspire current Ferragamo designs?
“Yes, for instance, within the fall ’16 vogue show for men in Milan, Massimiliano Giornetti used a special shoe made by Salvatore Ferragamo for Andy Warhol. It’s a lace-up shoe in Kautschuk [rubber], however it’s painted by Andy Warhol.