His sensitivity for materials can already be seen in his use of fine leathers that offer unexpected effects through the use of patchwork and colour; but the real renewal of the language of fashion came with the introduction of decidedly unusual materials such as fish skin, gros-grain, cork cylinders sewn and covered with kid, canape, rafie and cellophane, obtained by twisting candy wrappers.
The climate of autarchy that was emerging in Fascist Italy, where many traditional raw materials were lacking, is not enough to explain such versatility; Ferragamo demonstrates that all materials are precious and have their own reason for being in the modern world. These unconventional choices are perfectly functional to the contradictory trends expressed by the fashion of the time, which confronted aspects of great change with traditional and revivalist approaches.
Tavarnelle lace or raffia shoes, for example, recover a traditional Tuscan workmanship but reinvent it in colour, geometric decorations and above all in its destination: shoes.
During the war, Ferragamo used with freedom – and not as a limitation – the most obsolete materials, such as lacquered wood, felt, string lace and synthetic resins such as bakelite.
Once the war was over, he did not abandon poor materials but at the same time drew on more innovative ones, such as vinylite and nylon thread, or more precious ones, such as pure gold.
Retracing the Maestro’s words – with the help of Sofia Gnoli’s research for the catalogue of the Sustainable Thinking exhibition held at the Ferragamo Museum in Florence from 2029 to 2021 – we discover not only the historical background, but also the thinking that made Ferragamo’s adoption of cork possible.
“There is no limit to beauty, no degree of saturation for the creative imagination, just as infinite is the variety that a shoemaker can employ to decorate his models […]. And infinite have been the materials I have used in fifty years of craftsmanship […]. A shoemaker must not have a limited horizon and nothing must prevent him from realising everything that enters his creative orbit. Sometimes an idea has to wait for the discovery or invention of new materials, such as metal heels and glass soles, to be realised; sometimes it has to wait for the discovery of new preparation and dyeing systems […]. Sometimes, however, an idea is born in the mind as a result of special circumstances, as happened with the wedge heel and transparent paper shoes,“ we read in “Il Calzolaio dei sogni” published by Sansoni in 1971. And also, for the steel of the soles, one might say. After long studies on the perfect shoe, in order to support the arch of the foot well, Ferragamo had in fact incorporated a sheet of light, flexible steel in the soles of each shoe.
So it was that when – in the midst of the autarkic era – this material was destined for war use, he was faced with a great difficulty: “What I received as a replacement was so poor that I soon had a lot of complaints”. The poor-quality steel gave the heel instability and so, after several trials, he asked himself: “why not fill the space from the heel to the forefoot? Excited, with the clear heel model in mind I sat down and started working with pieces of Sardinian cork, pressing, gluing, fixing and finishing, until the entire space between the sole and the heel was filled”. Thus, was born the orthopaedic shoe of the modern world. The Americans were quick to rename them wedgies or lifties. “I sat down and looked at them: they were certainly unusual, not to say revolutionary, but I also found them beautiful”.
Ferragamo presented his prototype to a Florentine duchess – the response was at first negative. Salvatore did not lose heart and asked her to wear a pair of shoes even once. The duchess allowed herself to be convinced and wore them one Sunday morning on her way to mass. “The next day at the opening of the shop, one by one, the duchess’s friends came to me. Within a few weeks the wedge shoes became my most popular model. There was not a woman who did not praise their comfort. The cork gave the impression of walking on cushions”. Success beyond the Italian borders came on the feet of a host of loyalists, from Katharine Hepburn to Cooch Behar’s Maharani, who embellished the platform with precious stones.
In short, the wedges became so copied that Ferragamo said: “If I had to receive a royalty, even of one penny per pair, I would now be a multi-billionaire”.
This model is in fact the first internationally recognised great Italian creation.
