Sunshine pours through the windows of the Palazzo
Spini Feroni, the Florence headquarters of Salvatore
Ferragamo since the 1930s. We’re on the second floor,
in a salon complete with silk jacquard upholstery, crystal
chandeliers, frescoes on the ceiling and neoclassical
paintings on the walls. It’s not your average corporate
meeting room, but then, Salvatore Ferragamo is not
your average brand.
The original founder – the 11th of 14 children from
a poor family living near Naples – would go on to create
shoes for everyone from Indira Devi and Eva Perón to
Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich and
Greta Garbo, and the fashion house is still independent
and family-owned today. Which isn’t to say it hasn’t
experienced its share of challenges. However, a string
of creative director appointments and legacy updates
now seem over thanks to the recent arrivals ofPaul Andrew and Guillaume Meilland to helm
womenswear and menswear respectively. Both are
now sitting together at Palazzo Spini Feroni,
dressed in head-to-toe black, espressos in hand,
chatting animatedly.
They are clearly friends as well as co-workers.
‘We’ve known each other for two years,’ says Andrew,
who joined the company in 2016 as head of footwear,
roughly at the same time as Meilland took charge
of menswear. British-born Andrew now splits his time
between Milan, New York (where his eponymous
shoe company, founded in 2012, is based) and Florence.
Meilland, however, chose to move full time to
the Tuscan countryside with his wife and children.
‘Florence is one of those rare cities where you can go
to work in the centre, then live surrounded by nature
with only a 10-minute car ride,’ he says. ‘I’m taking »ALL CLOTHING BY
SALVATORE FERRAGAMO
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, COAT,
£2,770; ROLL-NECK, £530
SHE WEARS COAT, £5,350;
ROLL-NECK, £530. HE WEARS
COAT, £2,145; JACKET, £590;
SHIRT, £280; TROUSERS, £680;
SHOES, PRICE ON REQUEST
COAT, £1,745; DRESS,
PRICE ON REQUEST
HE WEARS COAT, £2,145;
JACKET, £590; SHIRT, £280.
SHE WEARS COAT, £5,350;
CARDIGAN DRESS, £1,115;
SHIRT, PRICE ON REQUEST;
ROLL-NECK, £530; SHOES,
PRICE ON REQUESTHair: Roxane Attard using Davines. Make-up: Megumi Matsuno using Laura Mercier. Models: Tom P at Tomorrow Is Another Day, Johanna at Nevs
Fashion