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‘Shoemaker to the stars’ Salvatore Ferragamo saw his brand become more of a lifestyle choice than an accessories line. Lisa Gerard Sharp travelled to Florence to see how it was done
Salvatore Ferragamo may be turning 80 this year, but the Florentine fashion house shows no signs of slowing down just yet. Having made its name with leather goods (notably shoes and bags), luxury luggage and sunglasses, winning celebrity fans such as Claudia Schiffer and Nicole Kidman along the way, it was the first Italian fashion house to diversify into travel and lifestyle. When the brand expanded to encompass boutique hotels, rural resorts, wineries and restaurants, it kicked off a trend that has quickly gained currency throughout the fashion world.
This forward-looking spirit is nothing new. Drawn to Florence by the city’s long tradition of craftsmanship, founder Salvatore Ferragamo made fashion history by inventing the wedge heel in 1937, and went on to pioneer sandals and ergonomically correct footwear.
He was the first celebrity shoemaker, making shoes for the likes of Greta Garbo and Marilyn Monroe. He went as far as to claim he could judge a person’s character by touching their feet.
But the Ferragamo family has always had aspirations beyond footwear. And, although justifiably proud of the brand’s recent globalisation, retaining its ‘made in Italy’ status is clearly non-negotiable. Unlike Gucci, also founded in Florence, the Ferragamo brand thrives as a locally based, family-owned firm. The company is still ensconced in an ancient palace off the river Arno, along with its shoe museum, and its boutique hotels can be found all over the city. Above all else, this is an essentially Florentine brand – if it didn’t hail from the city, it would surely have to decamp there.
Florentine style is characterised by distinguersi, a desire to be singled out for one’s subtlety not flamboyance. Florentines are rarely fashion victims, and their stylishness transcends social status, wealth, taste, even beauty. More than any other house, the Ferragamo look embodies this ethos: craftsmanship above cool brand status, effortless chic and an understated urban elegance, combined with a passion for rural living.
Dressed head to toe in Ferragamo, Salvatore’s eldest son, Ferruccio, pours scorn on the idea that, sartorially speaking, Florence lags behind Milan. “Florentines dress more elegantly than other Italians,” he says. “The Italian fashion industry was born here, with the first haute couture shows in the 1950s”.
Now at the helm of the company, Ferruccio attributes the firm’s success to his mother, who despite being “a simple housewife, assigned the six of us to roles in different sectors”. He has adopted a similar approach. His son James acts as accessories designer. while James’s twin brother, Salvatore Jr, runs Il Borro, the family’s Tuscan wine estate and rural resort.
However, falling back on the family business is anything but an easy option. Only three family members from the third generation are allowed to work for the firm at any one time, and jobs are offered with the caveats that “they’ve proven themselves elsewhere, and there’s a suitable vacancy”, explains Salvatore. As he points out with alacrity, the competition between his 25 cousins is considerable.
The family founded the Il Borro estate on similarly meritocratic principles. Tucked away in the hills near Arezzo, it was originally a medieval village left in ruins after World War II. Salvatore says his father “had a vision of turning it into a rural resort and wine estate for trailblazing Super Tuscans, rather than the traditional Chianti Classico”.
With its geranium-clad cottages and geometric gardens, the resort borders on perfection, but Salvatore insists on its authenticity. “It’s a wine estate, resort and restored medieval village, not Disneyland,” he says. Even so, it features in fashion shoots, even if the Ferragamo name is notably absent from the wine bottles here. As with the family’s hotels, this is a deliberate ploy to keep the integrity of the original brand intact.
It’s perhaps unsurprising, then, that there’s no Ferragamo fashion outlet on the estate. Instead, craft workshops have been set up for a goldsmith, a carpenter, a ceramicist, a glassmaker and, of course, a cobbler – a reminder of Ferragamo’s shoemaking heritage. And it’s here that you’ll find the very essence of the Ferragamo lifestyle. A typical day might start with a family football match against a Florentine team, followed by a lunch of spaghetti alla menta (spaghetti tossed in buttery mint) at the estate inn, washed down with Il Borro wine.
Rather like an Italian Ralph Lauren, the Ferragamo family offers a romanticised idyll of rural life. Except with slightly chicer footwear.
Salvatore Ferragamo’s flagship store is on Florence’s fashion central at 4r-14r Via Tornabuoni, while its hotels and apartments lie on both sides of the river Arno. Most are clustered around Ponte Vecchio; some of these boltholes are designed for people watching, others for privacy
■ Palazzo Capponi (1 Lungarno Guicciardini) is a grand, frescoed pile, while Continentale (6r Vicolo dell’Oro) is a hip hotel with a retro feel, black and white photography, and views over the famous bridge. Gallery Hotel Art (5 Vicolo dell’Oro) was Florence’s first design hotel, and still appeals to the fashion set. Lungarno Suites (14 Lungarno Acciainoli) are luxurious serviced apartments set in palazzi on the river. For more details, visit lungarnohotels.com or tel. +39 055 2726 4000.
■ Guests can take trips to the fashion factory outlets and private tours of Museo Salvatore Ferragamo (5r Piazza Santa Trinita).
Exhibits here include shoes made for Hollywood stars and the mistresses of Hitler and Mussolini. Fans of Ferragamo interiors can get the look in Lungarno Details (4 Lungarno Acciaiuoli), the family’s Florentine design store.
■ Borgo San Jacopo (62 Borgo San Jacopo, tel. +39 055 281661) is the family’s Michelin-starred ‘canteen’ overlooking Ponte Vecchio.
■ If you’re heading to the Tuscan countryside, the family owns Villa le Rose (2 Via Brancolano, Tavarnuzze, tel. +39 055 2726 4000) in Chianti, and Il Borro (tel. +39 055 977053, ilborro.it) near Arezzo, which offers wine tasting, golf, riding, hunting and hot-air ballooning. There’s also a rural inn here, Osteria del Borro.
Malgré ses 80 ans cette année, la maison de mode florentine Ferragamo ne montre aucun signe de ralentissement. Après s’être fait un nom dans la bagagerie de luxe et les accessoires de cuir, c’est la première firme italienne à s’être diversifiée dans le voyage et le style de vie. Dans son expansion, la marque englobe aujourd’hui des boutiques filiales, des gîtes ruraux, des caves à vin et des restaurants, lançant une tendance qui s’est rapidement imposée à travers le monde de la mode.
Bien que Ferragamo s’enorgueillisse à juste titre de cette récente internationalisation, la maison maintient cette image de firme familiale, avec un ancrage local. C’est avant tout une marque essentiellement florentine.
L’aîné de la famille, Salvatore Ferragamo, attribue le succès de la firme à sa mère, qui malgré “qu’elle ne soit qu’une simple femme au foyer a assigné aux six membres de la famille des rôles dans différents secteurs” et lui-même a adopté une approche similaire. Son fils James dessine des accessoires tandis que son frère Salvatore dirige Il Borro, le village de gîtes ruraux de leur père.
Perché dans les collines non loin d’Arezzo, c’était à l’origine un village médiéval laissé en ruine après la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. Avec ses cottages fleuris de géraniums et ses jardins géométriques, il frise la perfection. Et c’est ici que vous trouverez l’essence même du style de vie Ferragamo, sous la forme d’une idylle romantique de la vie rurale.
Le Florence de Ferragamo Le magasin phare de la famille se trouve sur la via Tornabuoni, avenue centrale de la mode, tandis que leurs hôtels campent sur les deux rives du fleuve Arno.
■ Palazzo Capponi est l’établissement le plus imposant tandis que le Continentale est un hôtel plus branché avec un parfum rétro. L’hôtel Gallery Art fut le premier établissement design de Florence. Les Suites Lungarno sont de luxueux appartements-hôtels. Voyez lungarnohotels.com pour plus de détails.
■ Les visiteurs peuvent réserver un tour privé du musée de la chaussure (2 Via dei Tornabuoni) ou visiter Lungarno Details (4 Lungarno Acciaiuoli), la boutique florentine de design de la famille.
■ Borgo San Jacopo (62 Borgo San Jacopo) est la ‘cantine’ familiale étoilée au Michelin surplombant le Ponte Vecchio. Osteria Del Borro (52 Via del Borro) est leur propre auberge rurale.
Hoewel Ferragamo dit jaar 80 kaarsjes uitblaast, lijkt het Florentijnse modehuis geen gas terug te nemen. Het maakte naam met luxebagage en lederwaren en was het eerste Italiaanse huis dat diversifieerde naar reizen en lifestyle. Het merk behelst nu ook boetiekcottages, landelijke vakantieoorden, wijnmakerijen en restaurants en lanceerde zo een trend die al snel bijval vond in de modewereld.
Hoewel het bedrijf terecht trots mag zijn op zijn recente globalisering gedijt Ferragamo nog steeds als een plaatselijk familiebedrijf. Het is per slot van rekening ook een Florentijns merk.
Salvatore Ferragamo’s oudste zoon Ferruccio schrijft het succes van het bedrijf toe aan zijn moeder, die, hoewel ze “een eenvoudige huisvrouw is, ons alle zes functies gaf in verschillende sectoren”. Hijzelf hanteert een gelijkaardige aanpak. Zijn zoon James ontwerpt accessoires terwijl zijn broer Salvatore Il Borro leidt, het plattelandsoord van hun vader.
Verstopt in de heuvels bij Arezzo was het oorspronkelijk een middeleeuws stadje dat na de Tweede Wereldoorlog in puin achterbleef. Met zijn in geranium geklede huisjes en geometrische tuinen lijkt het de perfectie zelve. Het is hier dat je de geest van de Ferragamo-levensstijl terugvindt, een geromantiseerde idylle van het plattelandsleven.
Het Firenze van Ferragamo Het vlaggenschip onder de winkels van de familie ligt in winkelhart Via Tornabuoni, terwijl hun hotels beide zijden van de Arno sieren.
■ Palazzo Capponi is het grootste pronkstuk. De Continentale is dan weer een hip hotel met een retrotoets. Gallery Hotel Art was Firenze’s eerste designhotel en Lungarno Suites biedt luxueuze serviceappartementen. Meer informatie vind je op lungarnohotels.com.
■ Gasten kunnen een privérondleiding door het schoenenmuseum (Via dei Tornabuoni 2) krijgen of een bezoek brengen aan Details (Lungarno Acciaiuoli 4), de Florentijnse designwinkel van de familie.
■ Borgo San Jacopo (Borgo San Jacopo 62) is de met Michelinsterren bekroonde ‘kantine’ van de familie, met uitzicht op de Ponte Vecchio. Osteria Del Borro (Via del Borro 52) is hun eigen landelijke herberg.
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