Museo Salvatore Ferragamo

18 November 2010 –
7 March 2011

The latest surveys on the future direction of the market show that the most sought after products are those which are highly personalized and exclusive, meticulous in detail and workmanship, often the fruit of a synergy between the work of machines and man, of ‘’harmony between the mind and the hand’’.

This then is a celebration and desire to restore value to work done by hand or with the intellect, but always with artisanal expertise, and to look to the past to reconstruct the new on solid foundations.

„The craftsman is not just one who works with his hands, but one who does his trade well, in a workmanlike manner, who puts a lot of personal commitment into it, who takes care over details, who is innovative, who thinks how much he could grow by improving his skills if only he had enough time, but above all, who is gratified by what he does.”

From this strong message from American sociologist and New York University professor, Richard Sennett, comes the inspiration for this exhibition. Drawing on the history of an Italian company such as Ferragamo, it would like to provide an opportunity to reflect on the values that have allowed an enterprise well-rooted in Florence’s arts and crafts tradition to keep this DNA intact, even throughout the difficult transition to industrial production.

Belief in sharing and developing skills, in craftsmanship intended not only as manual “know-how”, but above all as a mental process in which passion for one’s work, the desire to keep progressing, an obsession with quality and continual research into materials and technology side by side with well-established expertise based on  Italian cultural roots are tangible expressions of a zeal and dynamism that belong anywhere but in the past, that now more than ever represent elements of distinction and important levers for facing the future.

“Today’s craftsman is the artist who plays the music, the shoemaker who operates and controls the machine at work, the young person who creates a new website!”

This exhibition falls in 2010, and celebrates an important anniversary for the Ferragamo company, fifty years from the death of its founder and the moment when his wife, Wanda, and their six children took over the reins of the business.

Following rapid success in the North American market as a result of Salvatore Ferragamo’s creativity and genius, the company was established in Florence in 1928, rising to eminence in the international fashion market as specialist makers of handcrafted shoes for women.  A new phase of development began in 1960, taking production from an extraordinary level of craftsmanship to an equally high level of industrial manufacture, one which over the years gradually evolved into  a total look as a “top of the range clothing and accessories”, producer  maintaining its hallmark meticulous craftsmanship and contributing to the spread of this artisanal culture (not only in the territory around Florence, but also in many other Italian cities).

Historically, the event which gave rise to this change was the arrival in 1960 of an order from the New York department store, Saks Fifth Avenue, for no less than 12,000 pairs of shoes instead of its usual order for 200 pairs! Needless to say, the shoe production system had to be extended and modified to include the use of machinery, which immediately raised daily output to 6,500 pairs, however, the Salvatore Ferragamo company held firm to the principle that the use of machinery should be restricted only to less important operations and that 60% of the shoe should still be made by hand!

In just a few years, this beginning led to a radical transformation of the company’s manufacturing, communication and investment strategies.

In its inimitable style, the Ferragamo family wanted to celebrate this period in an original way. Not by retracing the significant stages of an extraordinary company history with this exhibition, but by underscoring how much the management, production and distribution aspects of the company’s growth and evolution has been due to the people who have worked at and for Ferragamo, and above all to the cultural and artisanal richness of the territory, particularly Florence, where the company has always operated. It is a confirmation of Salvatore’s decision to transfer “know-how” and the spirit of design innovation and technology from local craftsmen to the core of Ferragamo’s production.

In order to thank Florence and its craftsmen, Salvatore Ferragamo has created a special prize for new Florentine artisanal enterprises that continue to believe in the potential of local craftsmanship combined with innovation and creativity.

The exhibition’s opening coincides with the First Biennial International Cultural Heritage and Landscape Week, which, moreover, coincides with the Company Culture Week.

The aim of this latter project, promoted by Confindustria Tuscany, together with CNA (the National Federation of Crafts and Small and Medium Enterprises) and the Mayor of Florence is nothing less than to reposition Florence at the centre of contemporary debate on the relationship between Cultural Heritage and Economy.

As a Post scriptum it is perhaps necessary to mention that from the 12^th to 20^th November, the entire city was  the setting for over 150 events and activities, culminating in a 3-day International

Forum (18^th – 20^th November) (See Florens Forum 2010 under our Art Section) in which economists, politicians and directors of the world’s most important museums participated to discuss aspects of the economic impact of Art and Culture.