2017 marks ninety years since Salvatore Ferragamo returned to Italy in 1927 after spending twelve years in the United States. To celebrate this anniversary, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo has organized an exhibition that makes his voyage home its leitmotiv to offer a view of Italy in the 1920s—a decade now seen as a hotbed of creative ideas and artistic experimentation, when those with open minds and no preconceptions were free to flourish. 

Ferragamo arrived in Florence at a time when discussion revolved around the idea of returns: a return to order; a return to the trades; a return to national traditions.

This exhibition tells the story of this passage from the handicrafts to the establishment of an industry, an exploration of the tastes of the time and Salvatore Ferragamo’s view of his contemporary culture. It is a story told in chapters, a story for the public to enjoy like a novel in progress.

 On this premise, Carlo Sisi, exhibition curator—working with a scientific committee—has created an exhibition inspired by Ferragamo’s transatlantic voyage when he returned to Italy.

This is the theme that underpins the design by set designer Maurizio Balò and is a metaphor for Salvatore Ferragamo’s creative exploration in Italy’s twentieth-century visual culture, taking from it the themes and works of art that directly influenced or indirectly informed the poetics of Ferragamo’s creations without overlooking the many cultural and social aspects that characterized the post-WWI period up to the eve of the Fascist regime’s authoritarian rise.

Spanning eight rooms, the exhibition will present many works of art by Maccari, Martini, Thayaht, Gio Ponti, Rosai, Balla, Depero, and others, in addition to clothing and fabric from the era, finely crafted objets d’art, photographs, and advertisements.

And naturally, it will include the shoes created in the 1920s, demonstrating Salvatore Ferragamo’s close affinity with his contemporaries in the art world.

Contributors: Alessandra Acocella, Maria Canella, Daniela Degl’ Innocenti, Roberta Ferrazza, Lucia Mannini, Isabella Patti, Paolo Piccione, Susanna Ragionieri, Stefania Ricci, Luca Scarlini, Maddalena Tirabassi, Caterina Toschi, Francesca Tosi, Elvira Valler | Exhibition design: Maurizio Balò

Opening hours: 19 May 2017 to 2 May 2018 | 10 am - 7:30 pm

For group reservations, please write to museoferragamo@ferragamo.com or call +39-055-3562466