In 1898, near the town of Avellino, in a place called Bonito, Salvatore Ferragamo was born the 11th out of 14 siblings. By 9 years old he had made his first pair of shoes and a career was born. These first pairs were created for his sisters, so that they had nice shoes to wear to their confirmation. This born passion for the creation of shoes led young Salvatore Ferragamo on to Naples, where he spent a year studying the craft of making shoes. Soon after, the boy set up shop in his parent's house, making shoes for the people of Bonito. By 1914, the sixteen-year-old Salvatore Ferragamo was on his way to America, moving to Boston to join one of his brothers making cowboy boots in a factory there.
Salvatore didn't remain at the cowboy boot factory for too long, before he was itching to strike out on his own. So, after persuading his brothers to join him in a move to California, the Ferragamo brothers found themselves placing roots in Santa Barbara, followed by a move to Hollywood. At last, Salvatore Ferragamo became successful, first as a maker of made-to-measure shoes and a shoe repairer, but finally as a creator of shoes for the growing industry of Hollywood movies. Still he wasn't content with his famed creations, mainly because, while they looked fantastic, his shoes hurt a great many feet of celebrities. So Salvatore enrolled in USC to study anatomy in order to improve his skills.
Thirteen years later, back in 1927, Salvatore moved back to Florence, Italy, where he started to create shoes for some of the most influential and wealthy women of his day. His list of clients included Marilyn Monroe and Eva Peron, among others. He focused on design experiments, requesting patents for both utility and ornamental shoe designs, along with inventions related to those designs. In 1933, because of both economic pressures and management that wasn't any good, Salvatore went bankrupt. But the 1950s proved a turnaround time for him, and he was able to boost his employee base up to nearly 700 artisans who expertly put together 350 hand-crafted pairs of shoes every day.
Salvatore Ferragamo inspired many contemporary designers of the classic footwear of his day, all the way to the present time. He was a visionary who died young, at 62, back in 1960, however his name is carried on in the form of the family company that today still bears the name of Salvatore Ferragamo. Besides shoes, this modern company creates such fashion accessories as silk, watches, ready-to-wear clothing, perfumes luxury shoes, bags and eyewear. Since his passing, his widow Wanda, and following her their six children, have run the Ferragamo empire.
Today, the Ferragamos still own the company. All but one of the six children (Fiamma the eldest daughter passed away in 1998) and various relatives, including 23 grandchildren, help with the running of Ferragamo. Only three family members at a time can work directly for the company, so one can imagine the competition. Plans to alleviate this tension had to be put on hold due to the market turmoil of 2008, but plans involve floating 48% of the company on the stock market. If their plans move forward, money raised from the stock offering will go toward Ferragamo's expansion into China. Shanghai will host an exhibition celebrating the company's 80th year.
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