What is Salvatore Ferragamo?
Who was he?
Connecting Hollywood, functional beauty, Florence, and Ferragamo as it stands today.
When talking about Salvatore Ferragamo, the first thing that comes to mind is the shoes.
However, the essence of this maison lies not simply in being a brand that made beautiful shoes, but in renewing the relationships among the body, cinema, and urban life through footwear. Ferragamo was born in 1898, went to the United States in 1915, opened a shop in Hollywood in 1923, gaining renown for making shoes for films. In 1927 he returned to Florence and established his own company.
What is interesting here is that Ferragamo's starting point is not limited to the so-called "traditional Italian workshops."
Rather, the early strength lay in the connection between cinema as a new medium and a strong interest in the human body. The Ferragamo Museum's description also emphasizes that he was known in Hollywood as the "Shoemaker to the Stars," making shoes for film, theatre, and ballet, and that his sense of color, understanding of foot anatomy, and exploration of new materials characterized his work.
Starting from Hollywood,
Ferragamo's "functional glamour"
フェラガモ is not merely an ornamentist but is valued as a modern shoe designer because he considered both aesthetics and structure and function at the same time.
According to the museum's description, his work is characterized not only by artistic value but also by entrepreneurial perspective, knowledge of foot structure, material research, and technological innovation.
What emerges from this is that Ferragamo, at a relatively early stage, sought to balance "shoes that make women look beautiful" with "shoes that can actually be worn."
Creating shoes for films naturally seeks "beauty visible from afar." At the same time, since actors walk, dance, and perform, they cannot be completely impractical. The sensibility honed in this tension became the foundation of Ferragamo later. Hollywood was more than a place for promotion for Ferragamo; it was a laboratory for balancing function and illusion.
1927, the year Ferragamo returned to Florence, marked the true origin of the house.
The true origin of the maison.
フェラガモ becomes institutionalized as a brand after the company was established in Florence in 1927. The group's official chronology also marks this year as the founding year.
In other words, after gaining fame in the United States, it returned to Italy and restructured 'making' and 'selling' into a single company. This trajectory directly leads to today's Ferragamo.
And in 1938, it opened standalone stores in Florence, Rome, and London, and in 1948 expanded to New York. What this shows is that Ferragamo, relatively early on, pursued the path of an international luxury brand rather than staying with local workshops.
While Florence serves as the base for production and aesthetics, London and New York function as centers for distribution and symbolism. It is a fairly modern stance.
a 'shoe-only' brand.
The period when Ferragamo ceased to be
現 Looking at Ferragamo today, with bags, apparel, silk, and fragrances all in place, it seems from the start to be a comprehensive luxury brand.
However, in practice there were clear phases to the expansion. According to the group's history, in 1965 the first leather goods and ready-to-wear, in 1971 silk and accessories, from the late 1970s to the 1980s men's wear, fragrance in 1997, eyewear in 1998, and the watch line began in 2008.
What this timeline shows is that Ferragamo expanded its categories with considerable caution.
First, fame is built with shoes, then expands into leather goods, apparel, and silk, and further refine peripheral areas by including licenses and collaborations. Rather than a brand that makes everything, I think it is more accurate to view the house as one that has tested how far the 'grammar of shoes' can be moved into other categories.
What makes Ferragamo special is that
Even though it's a 'shoe brand'.
A place where the whole is built through bodily sensation.
Many luxury brands have a clearly defined starting point.
Trunks, saddlery, haute couture, leather goods. For Ferragamo, the starting point is shoes, but more precisely, an awareness of the "feet." The feet are the lowest part of the body and directly influence posture and the way one walks. In other words, to consider shoes is to consider the overall appearance of the body.
This difference in starting points quietly remains evident in today’s products as well.
Ferragamo's bags and apparel, more so than other maisons, sometimes retain a sense of "distance from the ground." Even with glamour, there is a practical center of gravity somewhere. That may be because what the brand first tackled was not an ornament for display but a tool for walking.
Recent turning points
Rejuvenation and Re-editing Since 2022
A major turning point for Ferragamo's current trajectory was 2022.
First, in March, Maximilian Davis was appointed Creative Director. Ferragamo's official release states that he assumed the role on March 16, 2022, and that CEO Marco Gobetti expected him to be the figure to write a new chapter based on the brand's rich heritage.
During the same period, Reuters reported that under Gobetti's leadership, product proposals were being refreshed, outreach to younger customers accelerated, and store concepts revised. By May 2022, Gobetti had spoken of aiming to double sales in the mid-term and increasing investment.
And in Davis's debut at the Spring/Summer 2023 show, Ferragamo reveals a fairly clear shift in direction.
On the brand's official show page, that first collection is named "A New Dawn," described as an attempt to reconnect Salvatore's beginnings in Hollywood with contemporary Hollywood culture.
This is very Ferragamo-like: not a complete rupture, but by re-editing the founder's American experience—the origin—with a fresh, youthful sensibility, it creates something new.
Ferragamo today is,
As a brand midway through its revival,
Perhaps reading it is more accurate.
こ This is a point that should be viewed with a bit of caution.
Ferragamo cannot yet be said to have been "fully revived." The official 2024 annual report shows revenue of €1.035 billion for 2024, down about 10.5% year over year.
Reuters also reported in March 2025 that, in Asia—particularly the weakness of China and the harshness of the wholesale environment—operating profit in 2024 declined significantly.
Furthermore, in February 2025, reports surfaced of CEO Marco Gobetti's resignation. Reuters noted that the brand's revival had not progressed as hoped and that the sales turnaround was challenging. At the same time, it reported that the founding family would remain involved and that Maximilian Davis would stay on.
That is to say, Ferragamo today is not a "completed revival success story," but a brand that is trying to translate the strength of its origins into the modern age.
Being in this 'in-between' stage is more engaging to witness. After all, the trial-and-error of how the brand's heritage should be treated today is quite visible.
Yet Ferragamo
The Interesting Reason
こ Up to here, Ferragamo does not appear to be a straightforward success story, nor a simple legacy brand.
A founder who rose to prominence in Hollywood built the company in Florence, expanded from shoes to a full luxury house, and now, once again, is being connected by a new generation of young creatives to link the origin with the present. Moreover, that process is ongoing.
And here lies Ferragamo's distinctive charm.
For example, it's somewhat different from brands like Gucci or Prada that move trends in big leaps. Ferragamo is instead strong in how it preserves the distance from the body, the dignity of a tool, and the balance between everyday life and glamour.
The brand's voice is by no means loud, yet tracing its roots reveals substantial depth. For such a maison, the more you learn, the more your perspective changes.
Where beauty meets
Will it reconcile with reality?
What draws MOOD to Ferragamo is that, while luxurious, it does not drift too far from the "realities of the body".
Just as founder Salvatore faced the structure of the foot and the act of walking, this maison embodies a sensibility that does not let dressing end in mere fantasy.
That is why reading Ferragamo's history feels less like merely learning about a venerable house and closer to understanding where beauty meets reality.
