Today and tomorrow will have a lot of shoe porn, which is probably my favourite after tropical-holiday-villa porn. Tomorrow we are going to learn a bit about the inventor of the stiletto, but today, I want to talk about the most important shoe designer of the 20th century, Salvatore Ferragamo.

An amazing Ferragamo wedge shoe.

Here is a great biography of Ferragamo, from the Museo Ferragamo website, but I’ll give you a summary.

Salvatore Ferragamo apprenticed as a shoe maker in his home country of Italy, before moving to the US to join his brother, who was working in the footwear industry there. While he was “shoemaker to the stars”, he studied human anatomy, in order to fully understand the human foot and how to make the perfect shoe. After the depression he moved back to Italy and opend his own studio. There, he began to experiment with new materials, because economic sanctions agains Italy during Mussolini’s rule meant that some materials were scarce. That was when Ferragamo made shoes from cork, metal wire, raffia, wood, and synthetic resin. The Ferragamo company turned in a fashion empire, and he died in 1960, but his wife continues to run his company. Oh yeah, and the man was a total genius.

He invented the platform shoe.

This Ferragamo shoe has interchangeable socks so you can match your shoe to your outfit.

More amazing Ferragamo shoes. He was SO ahead of his time.

This brass cage heel sandal was made in 1955.

Ferragamo invented the "invisible" shoe, using clear plastic.

A 1930 patchwork shoe.

A 1967 raffia sandal.

So, the reason why we are talking about Ferragamo is because a few years ago they launched a range called Creations, which was a re-release on many of Ferragamo’s classic shoes. The collection was originally exclusive to the Florence flagship, and in Dover Street Market (London.) I am not a huge fan of Ferragamo, aside from the classic shoes, because I have a handbag from there that fell apart after six months, and the evil shop assistant tried to make me pay for a repair. I shouted at her that if I had wanted a bag that was going to fall apart after six months, I would have bought a fake. Thankfully there was someone in the store buying a very similar bag to my broken one, so the shop lady smartened up and fixed mine for free, before I made more of a fuss in front of potential customers.

Anyway, when I heard about the Creations collection a few years ago, I ran to Dover Street Market on the first day of the launch, hoping to find a very particular shoe, which unfortunately was not in the collection. But here are a few of the ones they had:

The America Sandal, with Ferragamo's patented F-Shaped heel, originally launched in 1947.

The Carmen sandal, originally made for Carmen Miranda.

The Norma shoe, created for Marilyn Monroe.

Patchwork wedge shoe, created in 1942.

I found out yesterday that the Creations collection is available in the Ferragamo store on Robson street for the Olympics. I took a chance and called them, to see if they had my “dream shoe” in stock. It was good news, and bad news. The good news was they had it. The bad news was it was $2700. The good news was, I didn’t have to drain my life savings, since they only had two pairs, and neither was in my size. The bad news was, they said they might be able to order it. This shoe is the ultimate shoe, designed for Judy Garland in 1938. 1938!!!!!!!!! Ferragamo was so ahead of his time. I would cry if I could own this shoe, but I am afraid to go in, in case they CAN get me a pair in my size, and then what? Can I spend $2700 on a pair of shoes? Maybe, for these ones. I’m dubbing them The Most Incredible Shoe. Here they are:

Made in 1938!!!!

I think I might pop into the store just to caress them. They are truly incredible.

All images from the Salvatore Ferragamo website and the Museo Salvatore Ferragamo website.