In 1923 Salvatore Ferragamo opened his first shoe store in Hollywood, across from the Grauman’s Egyptian Theater. From then on, he was dubbed the ‘shoemaker to the stars’, for his creation of footwear worn by actors and actresses of cinema and theater.
Today, the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum is located in the historic Palazzo Spini Feroni in Florence. It is a building dating back to 1289 and frequented by foreigners in the city, including the writer Oscar Wilde.
In 1938 Salvatore Ferragamo, having returned to Italy, opened in this historic residence his first luxury footwear workshop of Made in Italy, also present on the international scene.
The Museum was inaugurated in May 1995 on the initiative of entrepreneur Wanda Ferragamo, Salvatore’s widow and head of the company since 1960 with her six children.
Starting from 2006, a different exhibition theme is selected each year, which, starting from Salvatore Ferragamo’s personal and professional experience, investigates his art and architecture, his design and his philosophy.
The Museum houses seven rooms: the first two are dedicated to the history of the Maison Ferragamo. Here, in biennial rotating exhibitions, over 14,000 models preserved in the Museum’s archive are displayed.
The other rooms, on the other hand, are dedicated to temporary exhibitions: among these, the exhibition set up in 2012-2013 of the shoes worn by Marilyn Monroe in tribute to the 50th anniversary of her death.
Furthermore, there is a permanent collection testifying to the activity of Salvatore Ferragamo from his return to Italy in 1927 until 1960, the year of his death. Here are exhibited models born from the relationship between Salvatore Ferragamo and the artists of the time, such as the Futurist painter Lucio Venna, author of some advertising sketches and the famous Ferragamo shoe label; others, on the other hand, testify to the continuous search for innovative designs, such as the famous cork ‘wedge’ patented in 1936.
The collection also includes shoes made after 1960: in fact, every year, some representative models of the season become part of the Salvatore Ferragamo archive, from which the Museum draws for its exhibitions.
Within the Museum there is a collection of drawings, wooden forms, documents and photographs related to the creations of the Florentine artist, such as:
- the historical sample of Salvatore Ferragamo women’s shoes, sandal from 1942.
- Salvatore Ferragamo, a sandal model inspired by Egypt,
- 1930 Wooden forms for Hollywood divas
- A shoe model called ‘wedge’ created in 1938 for Judy Garland
Guided tour of the Ferragamo Museum: Experience all the Florentine magic!
The guided tour consists of:
- Introduction to the history of the Ferragamo Family and description of the birth and evolution of the Maison through its main members starting from its founder Salvatore Ferragamo
- Visit the exhibition halls with an explanation of the articles that have represented not only the various trends of the Maison over the decades but also the taste of the Hollywood divas
- Illustration of the use of innovative materials and original production techniques.
