Salvatore Ferragamo

Salvatore Ferragamo (5 June 1898 – 7 August 1960) was an Italian shoe designer and the founder of luxury goods high-end retailer Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. An innovative shoe designer, he established a reputation in the 1930s. In addition to experimenting with alternative materials such as fish skin, he drew on historic inspiration for his shoes.

After studying shoemaking in Naples for a year, fourteen year old Ferragamo opened a small store based in his parents' home. In 1915, he emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, where one of his brothers worked in a cowboy boot factory. After a brief stint at the factory, he convinced his brothers to move to California, first Santa Barbara then Hollywood. It was there that he found success, initially opening a shop for repair and made-to-measure shoes, leading to a long period of designing footwear for the cinema.

Reluctant to accept that his shoes could be beautiful but uncomfortable to wear, he studied anatomy at the University of Southern California.