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The 2019 edition of the International "Leonardo da Vinci" Lifetime Achievement Award went to Wanda and Salvatore Ferragamo (in memoriam) for design in fashion.

Salvatore Ferragamo was born in 1898 in Bonito, in the province of Avellino, the eleventh of fourteen children. Passionate about shoes, in the early 1920s he moved to Santa Barbara, California, where he opened a shoe repair shop. California in those years was the land where the young film industry was thriving and Salvatore began to design and make cowboy boots for western films and Roman and Egyptian sandals for historical colossals.

When the film industry moved to Hollywood, Salvatore Ferragamo followed suit and in 1923 opened the "Hollywood Boot Shop", where he began his career as the 'shoemaker of the stars', as the press of the time called him. Salvatore was ahead of his time, completely changing fashion: he opened up women's shoes, which until then had been laced and closed; he made them more elegant and more comfortable; he created the first sandals.

In 1927 Ferragamo decided to return to Italy to open a workshop in Florence, a city traditionally rich in skilled craftsmen. In those years, thanks to his success, Ferragamo was able to buy Palazzo Spini Feroni, in Via dei Tornabuoni, which has been the company's headquarters ever since. In 1938, in addition to the Florence shop, Ferragamo opened other retail outlets in Old Bond Street in London and in Via Condotti in Rome.

In the post-war period, Salvatore Ferragamo's shoes became one of the symbols of Italy around the world, through inventions such as the metal-reinforced stiletto heels made famous by Marilyn Monroe; the gold sandals; the invisible sandal with a nylon thread upper. In 1948 he opened his first shop on Park Avenue, New York.

After achieving international fame and success, Salvatore Ferragamo passed away in 1960. During his lifetime he registered over 350 patents, almost all in the footwear segment, pioneered women's sandals, created the cork wedge and developed the steel-reinforced stiletto heel. His creative output can be seen in the company's current archive of over 15,000 different models of women's shoes.

Wanda Miletti Ferragamo had been at the helm of the group since 1960, the year of the death of her husband Salvatore, founder of the company, of which she immediately took over as Chairman. First on her own and then with the help of her six children, she successfully overcame the enormous problems of such a demanding legacy as that left to her by her husband. Thanks to her intelligence, her firmness of character and her lucid economic and commercial vision, Salvatore Ferragamo has today become a major fashion house and it is still under her direction that the company has made the "big step" from the mono-production of shoes to the ready-to-wear and total look market.

For her activities, Wanda Ferragamo has received many prestigious awards in Italy and around the world: in 1982 she was elected "International Woman of the Year" by the "Committee of 200" association formed by prominent women managers based in the United States; in 1986 she was awarded an Honorary Degree in Literature by the City University of New York; since 1987 she has been a Cavaliere del Lavoro of the Italian Republic; in 1991 she received the "Fashion Group Award" in New York; in 1992 in San Francisco she received the "Mary Ann Magnin Award"; in 1995 Her Majesty the Queen of England conferred on her the title of "Honorary Officer of British Empire (O. B.E. )"; in 1996 she received an Honorary Degree in Economic Sciences from New York University; in 1997 she received the "Qualità Italia" award from the President of the Italian Republic for the commercial results of her company; in 1999 she received the award named after Sir Harold Acton for Italy-US friendship; in 2002 she was appointed Patron of the British Institute of Florence; in 2003 in New York she received the title of "2003 Entrepreneurial Champion" during the 6th Annual Luminary Awards of the Committee of 2000; in 2004 she was awarded by the President of the Italian Republic with the Honour of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, with the title of Cavaliere di Gran Croce; in October 2006 she was appointed President of Honour; in May 2007 she received an Honorary Degree in Fine Arts from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) of New York.


https://www.ferragamo.com/