FERRINA BY SALVATORE FERRAGAMO | PART 2

Ferrina by Salvatore Ferragamo

At Kendals | Manchester

“FERRINA” SHOES 

We invite you to inspect our beautiful range of “Ferrina” shoes made in England by British craftsmen under the supervision of Signor Salvatore Ferragamo, of Florence. Superlative in stylings, workmanship, and materials, these shoes priced £5.19.6 are exclusive to Kendals in Manchester. 

Kendal Milne & Co. advertisement

The Guardian | May 14, 1952

Ferrina by Salvatore Ferragamo | At Kendals | Manchester

Source: The Guardian | May 14, 1952

The ad above is deceptive: the Ferrinas weren’t shown although Ferragamo also produced children’s footwear under the new moniker. No stone left unturned.

By July 1952 the Ferrina brand reached the American market and warmly welcomed :

HAND MADE SHOES BECOME AVAILABLE TO AVERAGE PEOPLE.

SOON TO BE HERE 

In New York I visited the showroom where samples of the Ferragamo shoe fashions, soon to be available at Joseph Horne’s, were shown to me. In sizes 4 1/2 to 10, AAAA to C widths, there were so-called standard shoes, delicate looking, sturdily made, beautifully turned and stitched. With moderately high but extremely graceful heels that look higher, two closed-toe, closed-heel shoes had a single eyelet tie, or were made in a décolleté pump style with slightly rounded toe. 

A black suede pump had a gold underlay. This was in the specially styled group, which also included shoes in four or five shades of leather given an iridescent quality through some secret gold wash process. 

Frances Walker

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | July 2, 1952

1955 | Ferrina By Salvatore Ferragamo

At Kendals | Manchester

Source: The Guardian | February 2, 1955

Salvatore Ferragamo kept producing hand-made shoes until his death (1960); probably the hand-made production survived his creator for a few years. All the same, while it is unclear when the Ferrina brand ended its course, the established M.O. remained in place. The market demanded it and there was no looking back.

FERRINA
BY SALVATORE FERRAGAMO | PART 1

SALVATORE FERRAGAMO
I N D E X

Ferrina by Salvatore Ferragamo

Source: Sistema Archivistico Nazionale

FERRINA BY SALVATORE FERRAGAMO | PART 1

1953 | Ferrina by Salvatore Ferragamo 

The Gloved Arch

Source : The Observer | April 26, 1953

CORSET-LIKE 

I met Salvatore Ferragamo during the week and heard from him that Mr. Bernard Oswell, one of the most knowledgeable men in the English shoe world, has taken charge of what will here be called “FERRINA” shoes and which are now being made in Norwich, Northampton and London, the three English centres of shoemaking. Since February the men have been getting into the technique of combining the delicate designs with great wearing strength. “We have learnt to draw the leather over the last until you might say that it corsets it,” as one worker said. 

The Observer

London | October 7, 1951

The FERRINA brand was patented by Salvatore Ferragamo in Italy July 14, 1949 (granted March 27, 1950) to manufacture general women’s and kid’s shoes.

FERRINA by Salvatore Ferragamo

Source: Archivio Di Stato

MACHINE-MADE SHOES ON ITALIAN MODEL

Half Price Of Originals 

The inventor of the wedge heel for women’s shoes, Signor Salvatore Ferragamo of Florence, gave a demonstration yesterday in Manchester of the machine-made shoes being made in Britain now to the exact design of the hand-made shoes he produces in Florence. 

The Guardian

London | May 13, 1952

The dream of the industrialised hand-made footwear theorised at the end of the Twenties was gone forever and Ferragamo went for a strict quality controlled machine-made production. The “exact design” was really that, as the ad above can prove: the well known patented model “Gloved Arch” (upcoming) shown as part of the Ferrina line.

Nonetheless, three months later, while on a promotional tour in Australia, Ferragamo never mentioned the new Ferrina brand and said:

“People ask me why I don’t use at least some machines in making my shoes,” he says: “but I say, the personality of my shoes would never be the same.” (The Sunday Herald | Sidney - August 3, 1952)

Which means the Ferrina weren’t really HIS shoes but apparently deemed good enough to fulfil the requests coming from both European and American markets.

1952 | Ferrina by Ferragamo

Source: Sistema Archivistico Nazionale

The British machine-made shoes will mostly sell at £ 6, which is about half the price of the Italian hand-made originals, and it is intended to export them to America as well from the factories in Norwich (the largest), London, and Northampton, which are making them. They are being made from British materials - leather from Bolton for instance - which Signor Ferragamo imports to Florence for his hand-made designs.

The shoes are made on special machines, as they belong to that minority of shoes which, for instance, have left and right heels differently shaped, and also to accord with Signor Ferragamo’s principle that the weight of the body should fall vertically on the arch of the foot. The arch joint, he says, never exceeds 1 1/2 inch in even the largest feet, and if this is not well fitted to the arch of the shoe even shoes made to measure will not fit entirely well.

One demonstration of this principle could yesterday be seen in light sandals with a “sculptured wedge” heel cut completely away beneath the heel itself and depending on a small moulded wedge projecting backwards below the arch of the foot. This display, held at Messrs Kendal Milne And Co., also included, apart from many classic designs, coloured summer shoes in Manila hemp, and “gondola” sandals in a lower price range, with sling back, wedge heel, and turned up toes.

The Guardian

London | May 13, 1952

FERRINA
BY SALVATORE FERRAGAMO | PART 2

SALVATORE FERRAGAMO
I N D E X

Ferrina by Ferragamo at Kendals | Manchester

Source: The Guardian | May 12, 1952

1933 - 2018 | PHILIP ROTH | IN MEMORIAM

Brooks Brothers | Monk Strap

Source: Brooks Brothers

“His shoes were beside the bed, cordovans with the strap that pulls across the instep, Brooks Brothers shoes of the kind I’d been wearing since I’d first admired them on the feet of a dapperly Princetonian Shakespeare professor at Bucknell. I bent to pick up Pipik’s shoes and saw that, along the back lateral curve, the heels were sharply worn away exactly as were the heels of the pair I had on. I looked at mine, at his, and then opened and shut the door so quickly that all I caught sight of as I hurled his cordovans into the corridor was the part in his hair”

Philip Roth

Operation Shylock (Simon & Schuster, 1993)

Philip Roth

Portnoy's Complaint

1934 | ANDRE PERUGIA | WIRE METAL HEELS FEATURED ON NEW SHOES BY ARTIST

André Perugia, The Artist. That is. And the photograph here below is from 1934, but published only two years later by Minneapolis’ Star Tribune. The wrong date clashed with our previous researches until “The Lively Morgue”, the now dormant New York Times photoblog, came along.

1936 | André Perugia (Actually 1934)

Wire, Metal Heels

Source: Star Tribune (Minneapolis) | April 5, 1936

MAKING THE WORLD FOOT-CONSCIOUS

Any little negligences and slides from grace are registered in our feet, according to M. André Perugia of Paris. M. Perugia is shown above with three types of shoes, evening Oxford with aeroplane heel, mule with organ pipe heel, and sandal with machine age heel of metal balls.

Star Tribune (Minneapolis) | April 5, 1936

1934 | André Perugia | detail

Footwear Of The Future

Source: The Lively Morgue

The actual press photo is dated March 20, 1934 and the Star Tribune caption is only the last part of the original text witch reads like this:

FOOTWEAR OF THE FUTURE.

6-NY-1439 - NEW YORK CITY - Footwear of the future from the Padova Art exhibit at the Ferargil Galleries, with M. André Perugia, the Paris designer in whose honour the exhibition has been arranged. Photo shows Perugia with three girls wearing the latest in shoes. Left to right - evening Oxford with aeroplane wire heel; mule with organ pipe heel, and sandal with machine age heel of metal balls.

(Times World Wide Photos)

1934 | André Perugia

Footwear Of The Future

Source: The Lively Morgue

Additional researches made the following text available:

The show will be something like this: nearby a crayon sketch of a barefoot Hindu dancer will be Perugia’s red suede sandal which has steel wire heels. The heels are made of three wire strands, strong enough he says to support a lady weighting a ton.

Near a charcoal drawing of a ballet dancer, poised on her toes will be a green slipper leaving the toes bare with straps coming between them.

Alongside a painting of a titan-haired nude, which is named “The Grey Squirrel” will be a little brocade shoe, its heel made of metal balls.

Perugia is calm about the sudden rise in shoes’ art status. American women neglect their feet, he said, when the foot is the first thing men see.

“From the foot” he said, “you can tell a woman’s culture and breeding. Her face may be changed by cosmetics, but her foot is inevitable.”

M. Plummer

Rochester New York Times Union | March 28, 1934

Apparently, only the metal balls heel survived; not the original prototype, but a later design made for Eartha Kitt sixteen (16) years later. The New York Sun described the shoes as “beyond belief”. Indeed.

ANDRE PERUGIA
D O S S I E R

HEELSTORY
HEEL HISTORY IN PICTURES

New York | Ferargil Galleries storefront

Source: The Frick Collection - Archives of American Art

{ [ U P D A T E S ] }

1945 | Henri Bendel presents

10 WEST

BETH & HERBERT LEVINE
I N D E X

ANDRE PERUGIA
D O S S I E R

THE SHOEMAKER FRATTEGIANI
FLORENCE

1934/1950 | ANDRE PERUGIA ON THE BALL
TALON A BOULES

1957 | JOSEPHI OF DELMAN
THE ROSE PETAL SANDAL

1964 | ROY LICHTENSTEIN
FOOT AND HAND

1965 | ROGER VIVIER | DESIGN FOR A BUCKLED SHOE
VIVIER FOR YSL & CATHERINE DENEUVE

1967 | DAVID EVINS FOR I.MILLER
HEELSTORY

DON DELILLO
REMEMBERS THE PEDOSCOPE

1945 | Chanel

Toilet Soap

1946 | Chanel

Face Powder

1974 | THE MODELS 'INVITATION' & 'STRIKE UP THE BAND' | BETH & HERBERT LEVINE

Romantic elegance with just that extra special touch! The crystal-clear vinyl gives a bared look and feel; when it’s midnight, you’ll still be Cinderella in her finery. 

Herbert Levine advertisement 

Source: The Akron Beacon Journal | September 26, 1974

1974 | The model “Invitation” | Beth & Herbert Levine

Source: The Akron Beacon Journal | September 26, 1974

1974 | The model “ Invitation” | Beth & Herbert Levine

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art (Dated 1975)

Herbert Levine’s Sling Scheme for Spring 

Herbert Levine plots his Spring Strategy with a delightful sling of multi-color leather strips on clear vinyl or white leather strips on clear vinyl. Each set on a mid heel. 

Herbert Levine advertisement

Source: Abilene Reporter News | February 21, 1974

1974 | The model “Strike Up The Band” | Beth & Herbert Levine

Source: Abilene Reporter News | February 21, 1974

1974 | The model “Strike Up The Band” | Beth & Herbert Levine

Source: Dutch Leather & Shoe Museum (Dated 1974)

On top:

The model Strike Up The Band with platform sole | Beth & Herbert Levine

Source: The Amarillo Globe Times | January 21, 1974

BETH & HERBERT LEVINE
I N D E X


SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
The Metropolitan Museum of Art owns both “Isolation” and “Strike Up The Band”: the former dated 1975, the latter 1972

Even the Dutch Leather & Shoe Museum owns both models: the "Isolation" - as manufactured by Beth Bootery - (1973/74) and  “Strike Up The Band” dated 1974.

1974 | The model “Strike Up The Band” | Beth & Herbert Levine

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art (Dated 1972)

1974 | The model “ Invitation” | Beth's Bootery

Source: Dutch Leather & Shoe Museum (Dated 1974)

1969 | WALK ON THE WILD SIDE WITH HERBERT LEVINE

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE WITH HERBERT LEVINE 

Exotic jaguar spots are stenciled on tawny hair-calfskin for this magnificent stacked-heel pump. A catty and very fashionable way to wild-up basic blacks and untamed colors. $ 65,00.

Herbert Levine advertisement

The Philadelphia Inquirer | September 28, 1969

Three years before Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side”, Beth and Herbert Levine unleashed a line with edgy jaguar spots also available in brown or grey calf. Their use of animal prints dates back to 1962 with a well known leopard ankle boots followed a year later by zebra printed fur boots.

1969 | Walk On The Wild Side With Herbert Levine

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer | September 28, 1969

1969 | Herbert Levine

Jaguar hair-calfskin pump

Source: eBay

HERBERT LEVINE HAS A WILD IDEA !

He’s going soft and spotty with the jungle look in dyed hair calf. And little way-out in his Herbert Levine style. The shoes 60,00. Bag to match, 40,00. Shoes also available in black or antique gold calf, 46,00. 

Herbert Levine advertisement

Hartford Courant | November 9, 1969

1969 | Herbert Levine Has A Wild Idea

Source: Hartford Courant | November 9, 1969

1969 | Herbert Levine

Hair-calfskin pump with gold-colored buckle

Source: eBay

1969 | Herbert Levine

Source: The Los Angeles Times | September 26, 1969

BETH & HERBERT LEVINE

I N D E X

FOOTNOTE

Both pumps can be found on eBay at very steep prices: $ 750,00 for the one on top; $ 1,200 for the buckled pump. The latter (without the buckle) is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection (dated 1968).

1969 | Herbert Levine

Jaguar hair-calfskin pump

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art

1967 | THE PAPER SHOE | KATHRYN STOLL PAIGE FOR HERBERT LEVINE

THE PAPER TWIST SHOE:

This new at-home fantasy is done in a huge palette of bright coloured, double-faced laminated paper strips twisted into exquisite swirls and multicolour bands which fled above the light composition soles. The Levine light touch creates a new whimsy in at-home fashions.

The Catholic Courier Journal

July 28, 1967 (1)

1967 | The Paper Shoes

Kathryn Still Paige for Herbert Levine

Source: Chicago Tribune | October 8, 1967

Year and magazine unknown | It’s Paper Jewelry by Kathryn Stoll Paige

Source: Rosehaven Cottage Studio

It's instant... it's easy... it's paper jewelry. 

And it's yours for the making. Glazed gift-wraps in flash-bright colors, plus rubber cement, are the low-cost basic. Add double-face cellophane tape for sticking power, and you're all set for your paperwork. Designer Kathryn Stoll came up with these crisp twists. She likes her party curls (left) the most because they're both flattering and fun (and hit-of-the-party insurance as well). 

Year and magazine unknown

Source: Rosehaven Cottage Studio

NY designer Kathryn Stoll was so well connected that she managed to convince Harper’s Bazaar’s then editor Gloria Moncur to propose the Levines her ideas; these days? try to find something more about her.

Her paper jewelry contains already both materials and color palette later seen in the paper shoes. Most probably, the article was published before July 1967, otherwise the paper shoes would have been mentioned.

1967 | The Paper Shoes | Herbert Levine | Designed by Kathryn Stoll Paige

ABOVE: from the collection of Dutch’s DL&SM (dated 1966)

BELOW: from the MET collection (dated ca. 1968)

1967 | The Paper Shoes | Herbert Levine | Designed by Kathryn Stoll Paige

Source: DL&SM

BETH & HERBERT LEVINE

I N D E X

(1)

The text from the newspaper match exactly the Herbert Levine press release written by Eleanor Lambert: cross check note 26 on “Beth Levine Shoes” book for further proof.

1967 | The Paper Shoes

Kathryn Still Paige for Herbert Levine

Source: Your Name Here

1963 | THE GAUCHO HEEL BY BETH & HERBERT LEVINE

1963 | Beth & Herbert Levine

The Gaucho Heel

Source: The Tennessean Sun | September 15, 1963

Herbert Levine’s stunner: the new Gaucho Heel of hand-carved walnut! It rests beneath the arch, is balanced on a pedestal. Graceful middling height. Black or nutty putty calfskin, $34.

Detroit Free Press

June 30, 1963

1963 | Beth & Herbert Levine | The Gaucho Heel (Walnut wood)

Source: Dutch Leather & Shoe Museum

1963 | Beth & Herbert Levine

Slingback with Gaucho Heel

Source: The Akron Beacon Journal | September 1, 1963

And before “going solo” the Gaucho Heel - in a slightly modified version - was spotted in a sandal whose wooden sole was cut in one piece. It was also adapted for a clog. 

1963 | Beth & Herbert Levine

Wooden sole sandal with the Gaucho Heel

Source: Chicago Tribune | January 4, 1963

1963 | Beth & Herbert Levine

Wooden sole sandal with the Gaucho Heel

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art

BETH & HERBERT LEVINE
I N D E X

HEELSTORY
HEEL HISTORY IN PICTURES

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

The Dutch Leather & Shoe Museum owns one Gaucho Heel (Pictured above, second from top) dated 1961/1963.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art owns both the sandal and the clog: the former dated ca. 1972, the latter 1964.

The Bata Museum owns a zebra striped clog, like the one pictured here below, dated 1967.

1963 | Beth & Herbert Levine

Clogs with the Gaucho Heel

Source: Harper’s Bazaar | April 1963

1962 | THE KABUKI COLLECTION BY BETH & HERBERT LEVINE

Also very special are Beth and Herbert Levine's Kabuki slippers, at The Blum Store ($22.95), made in lush velvets, mounted on unique gold rocker bases, derived from authentic Kabuki dancers' shoes. 

The Philadelphia Enquirer

November 28, 1962

1963 | Beth & Herbert Levine

The Kabuki line at Joseph Magnin

Source: Reno Gazette Journal | January 24, 1963

The four (?) models of the Kabuki collection were filed for patent by Beth Levine between August 16 and December 6, 1962 and before that, the name KABUKI was filed for trademark August 10, 1962.

#1

1962 | Beth & Herbert Levine | Kabuki #1

Source: Dutch Leather & Shoe Museum

Not a perfect match, but close: the sole isn't perfectly flat like the patent - or the ad above.

1962 | Beth Levine | Kabuki #1

Filed Aug. 16, 1962 | Granted Jan.1, 1963

Source: Google Patents

#2

No surviving models it seems, although we may be wrong. Let's hope so.

1962 | Beth Levine | Kabuki #2

Filed Aug. 28, 1962 | Granted Jan.8, 1963

Source: Google Patents

#3

Again, no surviving models.

1962 | Beth Levine | Kabuki #3

Filed Aug. 28, 1962 | Granted Jan.8, 1963

Source: Google Patents

#4

1962 | Beth & Herbert Levine | Kabuki #4

Source: MAAS (Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences)

1962 | Beth Levine | Kabuki #4

Filed Dec. 6, 1962 | Granted June 25, 1963

Source: Google Patents

BETH & HERBERT LEVINE
I N D E X

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

Shoe Icons (The Russian Virtual Shoe Museum) owns one #1 dated 1960/62

The Dutch Leather And Shoe Museum owns two #1 dated 1965/66 and 1966.

The Metropolitan Museum of Arts owns 4 Kabuki pairs: three pairs of #1 (the first dated 1962, the second 1960/63 and the third ca. 1966) plus one # 4 dated ca. 1965

The Bata Shoe Museum owns one #4 dated ca. 1964.

FIDM (Fashion Institute Design Museum, Los Angeles) owns a pair of #4 dated ca.1964.

LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) owns a pair of #1 dated 1964.

MAAS (Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Sidney (Ultimo) Australia) owns a pair of #4 dated ca. 1964

Both #1 and #4 can be easily found at your favourite online retailer for a price range between $2,000 and $ 5,000. Also online can be found a Kabuki platform which looks like a transition between #1 and #2, probably a prototype.

Beth Levine

A Kabuki prototype?

Source: ebay