Judy Garland needs to become Dorothy. The right shoes can elevate an actor’s performance, on or off-screen.

On September 6, 2020, Luca Guadagnino’s latest film, Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams, premiered Out of Competition at the 77^th Venice Film Festival. The Italian director known for films such as Call Me By Your Name and Suspiria, adapted the autobiography of the late great fellow er Salvatore Ferragamo. Guadagnino and screenwriter Dana Thomas worked alongside Fondazione Ferragamo and Museo Salvatore Ferragamo for three years, sharing historical expertise and artistic influences. The result is a beautiful, two-hour-long cinematic journey that became a real treat for fashion and cinema lovers. Among them, jury president, Cate Blanchett, who was spotted in the audience of Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams.

The entire festival, despite the pandemic, felt like a dream. The audience inside the Palace of Cinema was taken by the film and Luca Guadagnino The reality is that [Ferragamo] was a genius. He had a great, strong will and America embraced him.”

Born in a small village in Campania, Ferragamo’s life became inextricably bound to the world of cinema. After apprenticing in Naples, he emigrated to the United States when he was only 16. In Hollywood Ferragamo developed quite a reputation, working in the costume department where he would repair and resize shoes for large casts. Becoming a trusted shoemaker in the industry, he was commissioned to design shoes for The Thief of Baghdad (1924) and The Ten Commandments (1923). The great producer-director Cecil B. deMille allegedly told him: ‘The West would have been conquered sooner if they had boots like these.’

As his craftsmanship gained fame, Ferragamo opened his Hollywood Boot Shop, Gloria Swanson, who followed Ferragamo even when he moved back to Italy to open a salon in Florence.

We can only imagine how many interesting stories Salvatore Ferragamo

It was Ferragamo’s philosophy that people with all shapes and sizes of , leading him to declare: “In my shoes, [clients] told me, they felt differently; they could walk without suffering – which is surely no more than the function of shoes. In my shoes, they were happy.”

The Rainbow Sandal was originally created in 1938 for Judy Garland, who always wanted to appear taller. The documentary Shoemaker of Dreams shows the complicated process of making the platform that includes ten different parts of seven colors. The shoe remains one of the most recognizable symbols of Salvatore Ferragamo’s creations to the stars.

Ferragamo wrote in his book, “I love feet.” He believed that shoe comfort was essential because the feet carry a majority of the tension in the body and, more importantly, that feet hint at the character of their owner. He divided the women who have come to him into three categories: the Cinderella, the Venus, and the Aristocrat.

The Cinderella (size 6 and smaller)

Ava Gardner, Gina Lollobrigida, Marlene Dietrich

“Cinderella is essentially a feminine person, a lover of jewels and furs, who must be in love to be truly happy”.

Salvatore Ferragamo created this suede-lined model for Marlene Dietrich in 1938.

“Marlene Dietrich, surely the possessor of the most beautiful legs, ankles, and feet in the world.”

The Venus (size 6)

Rita Hayworth and Marilyn Monroe.

“Venus is usually of great beauty, glamour, and sophistication, yet under her glittering exterior she is often essentially a homebody, loving the simple things of life”

Black Honey is inspired by shoes made by Salvatore Ferragamo for Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn preferred shoes in black, white and red colors.  

Salvatore Ferragamo designed this satin upper covered entirely in Swarovski crystals (in the middle) with pointed toe also for Marilyn Monroe. The actress wore them in George Cukor’s film Let’s Make Love in 1960.

The Aristocrat (size 7 and larger)

Greta Garbo and Audrey Hepburn

“The Aristocrats are sensitive, even moody, but possess a great depth of understanding” and are perfect “aristocrats.”

A black suede pump with a grated vamp Zita is just one of a series of low-heeled closed-toe styles that were created by Ferragamo for Greta Garbo. The iconic actress met Salvatore in Hollywood just before he left for Florence in 1927. “Greta Garbo was the only person who has ever opposed to my ideas. She has beautiful feet, and I imagine that her preference for low-heeled shoes reflects an intense desire to preserve her feet against any possible damage. In my shoes, she does (not) need to worry. I did manage to give her a little heel –

– (but) they convinced me that I was right. She walks beautifully on a small heel, and it shows off her ankles to perfection,” he writes in his autobiography.

“Audrey Hepburn’s long, slim foot is in perfect proportion to her height. She is a true artist and a true aristocrat. She is always natural and completely unaffected, whether she is acting or buying shoes or handbags. She can talk intelligently and knowledgeably on philosophy, art, astronomy, and the theater, and in my opinion, she is in the same Scandinavian-British aristocratic tradition which began with Greta Garbo and continued with Ingrid Bergman – who, incidentally, prefers low-heeled shoes and is a perpetual delight to look at, to talk to, and to remember.”