Salvatore Ferragamo
Irpinia province, the village of Bonito - it was where Salvatore Ferragamo was born in 1898. A family with 14 children had few means and could afford to wear shoes not daily but on special occasions. In early childhood, the boy made up his mind to devote his life to footwear craft and at the age of nine, he created the first pair of shoes. At eleven he became an apprentice of a Neapolitan shoemaker, and at fifteen he moved to his brother in Boston, where they both were working in a shoe factory. In the early 1920s, Salvatore moved to Santa Barbara and opened his own shoe store there. Around the same time, one director ordered a hundred pairs of boots for his movie from Salvatore - this became his invitation to Hollywood, Salvatore didn’t wait long and moved there in 1923. One of the core features of the designer is that he never stopped improving himself so the first wave of popularity pushed him to study further: mathematics, anatomy as well as engineering - these were the disciplines the Italian chose to study at the university.
Ferragamo created more than 300 patents throughout his life. The craftsman was always distinguished by a careful approach to clients and could spend weeks on creating the perfect pair on request. Such passion for profession allowed Salvatore not to sink into despair either during the Great Depression or the Second World War. On the contrary, the designer did his best to find a way out of any situation: when metal elements ceased to be delivered, he created a light wedge-sole from odds and ends. After there were transparent sandals with fishing line, and further he patented shoes and bags made of crocodile leather. His invention and creativity helped build a fashion empire that is still run by the Ferragamo family from Florence. There is also the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum there as well as the hotels of the Lungarno Collection chain, a subsidiary owned by maestro's youngest son.
Salvatore Ferragamo boutique is located on the first floor of the Vremena Goda Galleries. Here you can find the new iconic model of the Fashion House - Viva. At its creation, the Vara model invented by Salvatore's daughter - Fiamma Ferragamo in 1979 was taken as a basis. In due time, shoes were created for a new generation of girls - active and feminine at the same time. Such types as we are used to now. But if Ferragamo became famous due to handmade shoes, today the brand also presents lines of women's and men's clothing, accessories and perfumes. There are many celebrities among the fans of the brand: Madonna, Drew Barrymore, Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep. And during Fashion Weeks shows, you can see Irina Shayk, Doutzen Kroes and other famous supermodels.
