Ferragamo's great women

Ferragamo pays tribute to Wanda Miletti Ferragamo and the role of women in the professional world with the major exhibition «Women in balance», held inside the Maison’s museum in Palazzo Spini Feroni in Florence from today until April 18, 2023. The exhibition, curated by museum director Stefania Ricci and by Elvira Valleri, was inaugurated yesterday with a video greeting from Minister for Family and equal opportunities Elena Bonetti and with Stefania Sandrelli as patroness. The project was created as a tribute to Salvatore Ferragamo's wife, who from 1960 (the year of the founder's death) until her death in 2018 was the intelligent and solid guide of the Florentine fashion house, and aims to make people aware of who Wanda really was and, as she would have wanted, tell the story of other women who, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, combined the affirmation of their personalities with family ties. The focus is on the Italian post-World War II reality, from 1955 to 1965, a time when many important social transformations were occurring and a qualified female presence could be observed.

«Women in Balance» puts the emphasis on an all-Italian family business, with the protagonist —a mother of three boys and three girls who have all joined the company— who had understood the importance of keeping the family together, establishing the same salary to all the children, keeping wives and husbands out of the company and —a fundamental aspect— giving the same opportunity to express themselves to all of them.

«The family value has permeated our existence», Leonardo Ferragamo, President of the fashion house and Salvatore and Wanda's fifth son, explained to MFF. «My mother created a wonderful team, something unique in the industry, which continues today with an expanded family, but at the same time has organized itself to maintain control of the company. Even when facing market evolutions, our spirit of cohesion and teamwork always prevails, differently from solutions of other businesses today», he stated, adding, «seeing my mother’s memory in this form evokes a strong emotional feeling on the one hand, and on the other hand, and this is the real message of the exhibition, it highlights what was happening in Italy in the 50s-60s and what was the value of a woman who expressed herself by leveraging her own nature and disposition while contributing to the female role’s evolution».

In the Maison’s plans, there is the possibility of exporting the exhibition abroad. «We do not have a program yet. What we do have is the strong and convinced hope that our museum activity can also live on continuously in other parts of the world», the entrepreneur added. Answering the question about what his mother's teaching that he always carries with him is, he then stated: «The fact that she made a path in continuity with the heritage that had been left to her by my father and continuously evolved it also thanks to a communication activity first started with the family and then with the rest of the world. Then, the brilliant idea of creating projects such as archives or exhibitions that are the foundation of the company today, also thanks to my sister Fiamma who executed all this». A series of projects are also part of the exhibition, such as the digital exhibition "A Feminine Lexicon," curated by Pia Diamandis and Elena Tortelli, and the tome about Wanda Nel Libro Rosso di Tà, written by her niece Ginevra Visconti with an introduction by Melania Mazzucco. «From the path it also emerges how Wanda was a representative of female empowerment, always seeking a balance between the private and public spheres, basically challenging women to succeed without losing their affections», Stefania Ricci added. «However, the theme of her care in running the business also comes up. The work on the exhibition took over a year, facilitated by a scientific committee. In fact, each section of the itinerary is an exhibition itself». 

Wanda Ferragamo and the boom ladies

The itinerary of «Women in balance», on display until April 2023, set up by set designer Maurizio Balò, unfolds in nine sections, including one dedicated to Wanda Ferragamo herself (pictured on the rooftops of Florence with her family), among the first female captains of the Italian industry, ideally reproducing her office overlooking Piazza Santa Trinità in Florence, the only part that transcends the historical period examined. On the large table, there are family photos, an inkwell, lens and document holders, while her fondest memories are cherished in a display case, such as the shoe Salvatore Ferragamo made for her in 1940 or the first Gilio perfume, released in 1961. The last room, set in a wardrobe, is instead dedicated to the relationship between fashion and women's identities in the years of the so-called economic miracle, with exclusively locally produced clothes and accessories coming from tailors run by women. These are haute couture ateliers and boutiques that contributed to the image of Italian fashion, such as Antonelli, Cerrato moda, Germana Marucelli, Gigliola Curiel, Sorelle Fontana, Fernanda Gattinoni Myricae, Max Mara, Mila Schön, Krizia, Jole Veneziani, Roberta di Camerino and Simonetta. (All rights reserved)