Museums: Ferragamo (Part 1 of 2)

Florence is home to the House of Ferragamo.

Salvatore Ferragamo started life making shoes first in southern Italy, then Boston and Hollywood, finally landing in Florence in 1927.  Despite bankruptcy during the Great Depression, Ferragamo became a great success producing hand-made shoes.  Along the way, he purchased a large 13th century palazzo along the river in Florence.  Today, the palazzo houses the headquarters of the Ferragamo Group, a large Ferragamo boutique and a fashion museum.

The House of Ferragamo in the Palazzo Spini Feroni.  The museum is located in the cellar. 

We recently visited the museum, which is hosting an exhibition about fashion and art called Tra Arte e Moda.  The theme of the exhibition is: art inspires fashion.  While viewing the exhibition, we saw fashions by some of the same designers whose work was exhibited last year at the Metropolitan Museum of Art n NYC.  Below are some photos from our visit to the Ferragamo Museum.

Fashion inspired by Keith Haring:

Fashion inspired by artist Kenneth Noland:

Fashion inspired by Hieronymus Bosch:

Next Up:  More art-inspired fashion.