Ferragamo, Salvatore

Salvatore Ferragamo (1898 – 1960) is the person who gave Italian shoes the reputation they enjoy today. Born in Italy, he went to the US as a teenager. He ended up in Hollywood, designing shoes for the movies, but in 1927 he returned to Italy and opened a shoe-making workshop in Florence.

His career revolutionized Italy’s shoe industry by introducing a style and elegance which appealed to the best dressed in society. He was already exporting shoes back to America, as the stars he had been making shoes for continued to desire his work.

Ferragamo is credited with many innovations in shoe design – the sandal, the wedge heel, and the use of non-traditional materials in shoe-making. After Salvatore’s death, the company was headed by his wife, Wanda, and their oldest daughter, Fiamma. She is credited with developing the famous Vara pump in 1978.

These days the Ferragamo dynasty, headed by Wanda Ferragamo, produces fashion items other than shoes. There are five remaining Ferragamo children, each of whom runs a specific part of the Ferragamo fashion empire.

Written by ikonicvintage

from a pair of c. 1931 shoes

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from a pair of late 1930s shoes

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from a pair of mid-1950s pumps

Courtesy of Elizabeth Upshur

from a pair of 1970 shoes

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from a pair of 1970s shorts

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from a pair of 1980s shoes

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from a 1980s dress

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from a 1980s suit

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from a 1990s pair of shoes

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from a 1990s convertible sweater

Courtesy of claireshaeffer