A hundred years have elapsed since Salvatore Ferragamo opened his first store in Hollywood in 1923. To commemorate this special anniversary, the new Museo Ferragamo exhibition, Salvatore Ferragamo 1898-1960, recounts the illustrious artisan’s story, like the first Salvatore Ferragamo retrospective held in 1985 at Palazzo Strozzi, which then travelled to other prestigious venues, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Museum Bellerive in Zurich, the Los Angeles County Museum in California, the Sogetsu Kai Foundation in Tokyo and the Museo des Bellas Artes in Mexico City.

The new exhibition, running from October 27, 2023 until November 04, 2024, pays homage to the life, creations and pioneering vision of the founder of Ferragamo, knows as the “Shoemaker to the Stars”.

This project is the culmination of a study that not only traces back over the life and work of Salvatore Ferragamo but also examines the role of the corporate museum and the curating that accompanies it. It touches on intersections that, on one hand, highlight Ferragamo’s contribution to the rebirth of craftsmanship and the emergence of a Made in Italy movement in the post-war period and, on the other, emphasize how Italian design, expressed through, inter alia, Ferragamo shoes, owes its success to the masterful union of decorative and artisanal tradition, functionality and technological innovation.

The study of Salvatore Ferragamo’s personal library has fuelled new reflections. The publications in his collection reveal an undeniable and innate ability to perceive society’s more progressive messages, along with a philosophy of life and work that underscore a deep, broad understanding of the world governed by a unique and universal divine knowledge.

In this way, Museo Ferragamo, as an institution in the fashion world has conveyed its mission of preserving the vital, dynamic dialogue between the company and its public. This project is a summary of these steps, juxtaposing the objects, documents, thoughts and inspiration with the original exhibition that first generated all these materials and, consequently, inspired reflection.

Salvatore Ferragamo 1898-1960
October 27, 2023 - November 04, 2024
Palazzo Spini Feroni
via de' Tornabuoni, 8, 50123 Firenze
museo.ferragamo.com

Photo: Salvatore Ferragamo with Sophia Loren