The Salvatore Ferragamo Museum opened in Florence in 1995. Located on the second floor of Palazzo Spini Feroni, the Museum extends over four rooms and comprises A Collection of over Ten Thousand Models of shoes created by Ferragamo over forty years, from the Twenties to his death in 1960. The Museum also has a small collection of period shoes (18th and 19th century), a collection of clothing from 1959 onwards, a collection of handbags from 1970, and a huge document archive.

Founding a museum is a formidable undertaking for a fashion company. It's not only a matter of historical documentation and the prestige of the brand but also a far-sighted and profound awareness of values and qualities which are not ephemeral and which must therefore be conserved and documented.

Ferragamo products are not merely shoes but works of exquisite craftsmanship. The inventive genius, the techniques of workmanship and the choice of materials all reveal a mind constantly in touch with the cultural atmosphere of the moment and bear witness to the prestige and success which have always been associated with the brand.

• The Museum's Logo shows a pendulum suspended above a lady's shoe. When Salvatore Ferragamo started studying anatomy in America, he realized that distribution of body weight over the foot provided the first important clue to solving the problem of a shoe "which will always fit perfectly". As he wrote in his autobiographical book Shoemaker of Dreams, "I discovered that the weight of the body in an erect position falls vertically upon the arch of the foot. And so I made my revolutionary lasts which, by supporting the arch, enable the foot to move like a pendulum in reverse". Such was the inspiration behind the logo.
• Biennial Exhibitions: The collections are rotated every two years, each time creations being chosen to explore different themes and reflect new relationships between fashion and culture.
• Cultural Events, Seminars, And Publications: However, the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum does not limit itself to the history of the Company's founder. Its intent is to design, organize and promote exhibitions, seminars and other events focusing on contemporary fashion culture. It reflects the Company's interest in all current cultural phenomena art, design, entertainment, communication and information that significantly influence lifestyles and dress styles. Many of these initiatives make use of the basement of Palazzo Spini Feroni in addition to the second floor.
• The Retrospective Exhibition: The idea of creating a museum was given crucial impetus by the big and highly successful exhibition on Salvatore Ferragamo's life and works that opened in Palazzo Strozzi in Florence in 1985 Entitled Leaders of Fashion.
• The Art of the Shoe, it set off from Florence on an international tour which brought it in 1987 to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, in 1992 to the Los Angeles County Museum in California and thence to the Sogetsu-kai Foundation in Tokyo in 1998.
• Since its foundation in 1996, the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum has organized the following exhibitions:
  • 2012 - 13
    Salvatore Ferragamo’s exhibition on Marilyn Monroe In conjunction with the release of Simon Curtis’ film "My week with Marilyn"

    The exhibition on Marilyn Monroe will be held in Florence from June 2012 to January 2013 at Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, which in 1999 purchased 14 pairs of the actress’ shoes originally designed by the brand’s founder.

    Through his shoes, Salvatore Ferragamo contributed to the legend Marilyn would become: they accentuated the innate and intense sensuality of the woman whom Salvatore likened to Venus, the Greek goddess of beauty.

    In addition to the costumes she wore for her most celebrated roles, the exhibition will host works of art depicting Marilyn as a myth of unattainable and tormented beauty, a myth that moves us to empathy and enthrall us still today.

  • 2011
    Inspiration and Vision
    It exhibits the history and work of Ferragamo with the sources of inspiration, in order to satiate the curiosity of the many Ferragamo fans and lovers of women's shoes.
  • 2010
    Greta Garbo. The Mystery of Style.
    The exhibition shows the made-to-order shoes that Ferragamo created for Greta Garbo and the extensive collection of her dresses, accessories and film costumes.
    
  • 2004
    Idee, modelli e invenzioni / Ideas, models, inventions
    It's organized by Stefania Ricci. A display of 369 Salvatore Ferragamo patents, from 1929 to 1960, from the State Archive in Rome.
  • Off Scene. Wim and Donata Wenders
    Organized by Wim and Donata Wenders is a romantic review of the great German director's films through film-set photos by Wenders himself and his wife Donata.
  • 2000
    Scarpe e piedi famosi / Shoes and famous feet
    It's organized by Stefania Ricci. Shoes created by Ferragamo for various celebrities, from Hollywood stars to royal families, their favourite models, the colours and materials most often used.
  • 1999-2001
    Audrey Hepburn, una donna, lo stile / Audrey Hepburn, a woman, the style.
    It's organized by Stefania Ricci and Gianluca Bauzano, the elegance of the best loved actress of all time, both on and off the set.
  • 1998
    Cenerentola: la scarpa ritrovata / Cinderella: the shoe rediscovered.
    It's organized by Stefania Ricci, Michael Howells, and Jenny Beavan. During Florence's Biennial Fashion and Cinema Exhibition, the myth of Cinderella in cinema, music and literature renewed in a pair of shoes created by Ferragamo for the film Ever After A Cinderella Story by Andy Tennant (Twentieth Century Fox).
  • 1997
    Materiali per la fantasia/ Materials and Creativity
    It's organized by Stefania Ricci. Salvatore's creativity came out above all in his use of materials, from the most precious to the most humble, from noble metals to cork and raffia.
  • Tanaka Ikko, la grafica del Giappone
    It's organized by Gian Carlo Calza. It's the first exhibition in Italy of the work of one of the leading graphic artists in 20th century Japan. Milan, Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea.
  • 1996
    Bruce Weber. Secret Love
    Organized by Germano Celant and Martin Harrison is a retrospective of the great American photographer on the occasion of Florence's Biennial Art and Fashion Exhibition.