Simply Abu Dhabi Magazine XXI

1 5 8 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I Salvatore Ferragamo Women’s Spring/Summer 2016 S alvatore Ferragamo, the Italian luxury goods company, withheadquarters in Florence, specialises in shoes, leather goods, and ready-to-wear collections for both men and women. As the parent company of the Ferragamo Group, the company also licences eyewear and watches, ensuring the brand is at the forefront in the fashion stakes. Salvatore Ferragamo’s success began when he emigrated from southern Italy to Boston and then California in 1914. He opened the Hollywood Boot Shop in 1923, and made shoes for movie stars such as Joan Crawford and Gloria Swanson, as well as for films such as Cecil B. DeMille's “The Ten Commandments”. He then returned to Italy and set up a shoe shop in Florence in 1927, which flourished after the Great Depression and boasted a workforce of 700 craftsmen producing 350 pairs of hand- made shoes a day. Salvatore worked with film stars and celebrities from his earliest days in Hollywood. His clients over the years included Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren and Greta Garbo, as well as Andy Warhol, Grace Mugabe, Diana, Princess of Wales and Margaret Thatcher.