La Dolce Vita: A Shoe In

Anyone who knows me, knows I love shoes. So, naturally I LOVED going to the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum in Florence. I mentioned in my post on Tuscany that I wanted to share more on Ferragamo with you because it was so great!

Salvatore Ferragamo was born in Naples, Italy in 1898. He grew up around the shoe-making business, and before he was a teenager, Ferragamo knew that's what he wanted to do in life. At 16, Ferragamo went to the US. He started a custom-made shoe business in his twenties. Due to the birth of cinema, he was frequented by Hollywood's filmstars. He returned to Italy in 1927 and set up his first workshop in Florence, where he only became more and more popular. To read a more detailed account of Ferragamo's life, click here.

Marilyn Monroe was one of Ferragamo's many clients. Others include: Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Katherine Hepburn, Madonna, and Drew Barrymore.

"Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world." -Marilyn Monroe, client

One exhibit was dedicated to the film, Australia, starring Nicole Kidman. Kidman wore Ferragamo shoes in the movie. Click here to read about it.

We weren't allowed to take photos inside the museum (lame!), but I took the liberty to snap a few...this is my best one.

The big exhibit was the Creativity in Color exhibit. A reviewer describes it this way when he writes, "Today, the Ferragamo Museum exposes objects that tell the story of this great designer, who had to innovate and disrupt the fashion footwear, insuperable object of vanity femminile.The exhibition is precisely the relationship with Salvatore Ferragamo shoes and with colors. Lo stylist, in fact, has always loved enhance his creations, using more colors, especially shades decided and bright colors rather than classical. Dynamic shapes, intense colors, materials, details, have made only the production of Ferragamo, who through his creations represented personality and style."

Below are some shoes that we saw in the exhibit. Notice the materials he uses and how the fashion and design of the shoes were before its time. Ferragamo was brilliant in creativity. One fashion columist explains that "Ferragamo completely innovates the world of footwear, creating the famous cork wedges, and replaces the leather and steel, new materials such as wood, cork, raffia, synthetic resins, creating real works of art."

Sandal with black grosgrain cloth upper decorated various colored grosgrain ribbon, 1930

Sandal, upper composed of padded gold kid bands, platform sole and heel in layers of cork covered with different color suede, 1938, worn by Judy Garland