1920s
Hollywood and Florence
Ferragamo made shoes for film stars in California before returning to Italy in 1927. In Florence, he brought together local craftsmanship and the production experience he had gained in America.
The House & Its Designers
Ferragamo
Florence · 1927
A shoemaker’s ingenuity, carried into a complete wardrobe.
Salvatore Ferragamo studied how shoes fit and how materials behave. That combination of practical inquiry and decorative imagination became the foundation of the Florence house’s wider collections.
8 photographs · Reviewed August 2026
Explore the history ↓
01 / The house
The story behind the name.
1960 onward
Wanda builds the wider house
After Salvatore’s death, Wanda Ferragamo led the business with their children. The company expanded beyond footwear into clothing and accessories.
The bags
Hardware as a signature
The Gancini motif connects many leather-goods designs. Structured shapes and carefully finished hardware reflect the house’s roots in making objects that must function as well as look elegant.
2022
Maximilian Davis appointed
Davis brought a new interpretation of the archive, drawing particular attention to colour, proportion and the house’s Hollywood connections.
02 / The designers
The people who shaped the house.
Selected creative chapters; dates distinguish appointments from runway debuts.
Founder · died 1960
Salvatore Ferragamo
Combined anatomical knowledge with an inventive approach to footwear.
Business leadership from 1960
Wanda Ferragamo
Guided the family’s expansion into a complete fashion house.
Appointed 2022
Maximilian Davis
Revisits the archive through a precise, contemporary wardrobe.
03 / The bags
A vocabulary in leather and form.
A selection of the house’s designs. Resale photographs illustrate individual examples; size, finish and condition vary.
01
Studio
A roomy top-handle bag with a structured base and signature clasp.
02
Gancini
The house’s hooked Gancini emblem provides the defining hardware across this bag family.
03
Vara Bow
A bag family carrying the grosgrain bow associated with Ferragamo’s Vara shoes.
More designs to know
- Hug Bag
- Side panels wrap around a structured body and fasten with Gancini hardware.
- Trifolio
- A compact flap bag organised around multiple compartments.
- Sofia
- A structured top-handle design with a flap and Gancini closure.
- Wanda
- A sharply structured top-handle bag with architectural proportions.
- Iconic Top Handle
- A compact, structured leather bag with a short handle and house hardware.