Marilyn Monroe’s sparkling red stilettos, Andy Warhol’s paint-spattered loafers, the sleek-lined ‘Wanda’ bag: Ferragamo creative director Maximilian Davis is recalling his favourite discoveries from the Florence-based house’s archive with an air of wonder.
‘There’s one shoe that I really, really wanted to see before I joined,’ says the Manchester-born designer, who was appointed to the role in 2022. ‘It was the S-shaped heel with the transparent straps that I saw in a 1950s campaign shot – it was the first of its kind, and is really surreal and dark and moody. It feels so modern. When I saw it [in person], it was so small and so delicate, and I had to wear gloves to touch it.’
Very few leading labels can offer their top designers the wealth of reference points that Davis has at his fingertips. The Ferragamo archive, occupying a sprawling space in Osmannoro, just outside Florence, (a short spin from its Palazzo Spini Feroni HQ and museum on the River Arno), comprises a staggering 14,700 – and counting – shoe models alone. ‘My first week was pretty intense,’ he laughs. ‘I was just so curious to see what 14 or 15,000 pairs of shoes look like in person. I can’t name another brand or another person that has an amazing heritage like this, especially based on shoes, which is what makes it so special.’
The Ferragamo tale is a storied one. It’s more than a century since the brand’s eponymous founder, Salvatore Ferragamo, emigrated from Italy to America in 1915 at the tender age of 17 to pursue his dreams of becoming a shoemaker to the stars. In 1923, he opened his first shop – the Hollywood Boot Shop on Hollywood Boulevard – and realised his ambition of providing footwear for the locale’s colourful clientele.
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