Salvatore Ferragamo Shoes

Since 1909 Salvatore Ferragamo had been his passion for shoes. At the age of 11 he was apprenticed to a shoemaker in Naples and at 13 he opened his own shop in Bonito Italy. By the age of 14 he decided to join one of his brothers who was working in a large footwear company in Boston. Much to his liking he was amazed by the modern machinery and working procedures but at the same time saw its quality limitations. So in the early 1920's he moved to Santa Barbara California to work with another brother in a shoe repair shop. It was not until then that Ferragamo realized that he wanted more. As California was known as the dreamland of film, Ferragamo went on his way to designing cowboy boots for western movies and sandals for the Roman/ Egyptians movie stars. Ferragamo to include such famous actor's and actresses as Marilyn Monroe, Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks, Judy Garland, Gloria Swanson, Audrey Hepburn, Sofia Loren and many more who became his devoted customers.



Like an artist Ferragamo builds his shoe designs based on his surroundings and what inspires him. Describing the comfort of his first shoe as "The weight of the body falls on the arch of the foot like a plumb line." Salvatore was ahead of the times and drastically changed footwear fashion in this period. His success was such that he couldn't keep pace with the orders, but American labor wasn't capable of making the shoes Ferragamo wanted and in 1927 he decided to return to Italy, to Florence, a city traditionally rich in skilled craftsmanship. Shortly after came the American great depression of 1929 which had a heavy impact with the American market so much that he ended up closing his firm. Continuing to follow his passion he did not lose heart, and expanded his ideas to the national market instead. By the year 1936 business was such a success that he started renting workshops and a store. It was at this time that Ferragamo turned out some of his most popular and widely imitated creations, like the cork shoe.

By 1938 Ferragamo was in a position to pay the first installment for the purchase of the entire Palazzo Spini Feroni, which has been Company headquarters ever since. It was followed shortly afterwards by the purchase of a villa, in the hills of Fiesole, as a private residence. In 1940 he married Wanda Miletti, the young daughter of the local doctor in Bonito, who had followed him to Florence and who was to bear him six children, three sons and three daughters.

It was not until the post war that Ferragamo became an all over the world symbol of Italy's reconstruction, through design and production. These were years of memorable inventions such as the metal-reinforced stiletto heels made famous by Marilyn Monroe, gold sandals, and the "invisible" sandals with uppers made from nylon thread, which in 1947 won Ferragamo the Neiman Marcus Award, the Oscar for the fashion world, which was a first for the footwear world.

However, in 1950 the Farragamo Company record was set with employing over 700 employees and producing over 350 pairs of shoes a day by hand and these years saw the first and relative mechanization of production; relative because Ferragamo saw machinery as indispensable for the less elaborate work but believed all the rest should be done by hand and under strict human supervision.


When Salvatore Ferragamo died in 1960 he had realized the great dream of his life was to create and produce the most beautiful shoes in the world. His family was left the task of carrying on and fulfilling the plan that Salvatore had nurtured in his final years transforming Ferragamo into a great fashion house.

Even today the same values are placed on each and every product that bares the Ferragamo name. Thanks to the families intelligence, determination and acute
business sense, Salvatore Ferragamo has now become a major luxury company. It was under the families direction that the Company took the great step of expanding from footwear only into other sectors including men's and women's ready-to-wear and silk accessories.

To see what the Farragamo Company has to offer visit your local high end retailer or Salvarorefarragamo.com.

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