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CLASSIC TONE Vice-chairman Giovanna Ferragamo does not take an active role in designing the creations now but does oversee the process.

On Heritage

Ferragamo seems to have it all: heritage, Made in Italy exclusivity, and now impressive financial results. T Qatar meets the personalities behind the brand.
BY SINDHU NAIR

The Art of Being Italian

VICE-CHAIRMAN GIOvANNA FERRAgAMO has a smile that

IMAGE COURTSEY: FERRAGAMO

spreads across her face, and eyes that twinkle with a hint of mischief. She looks across the room at Massimiliano Giornetti, the firms creative director, and asks me: He is nice? She pauses as I nod in agreement having just interviewed him then continues: He is friendly, warm and approachable, very unusual for designers. We are sitting in comfortable surroundings in Forte dei Marmi, a small town near Florence, with the mountains of Tuscany towering over us in regal surreal glory. I have been invited to spend an afternoon with members of the family and the brands leading designer ahead of the launch of the latest Ferragamo perfume. There are no airs and graces about Giovanna, despite her being

the daughter of the legendary Salvatore Ferragamo. She looks at Giornetti fondly for a moment and then turns to me and says: Ask me many questions. It is just you and me now. The Tuscan-based brand has seen a phenomenal rise in revenues and profits this year, after demand from the Asia-Pacific area helped lift its 2012 net profits by 30 percent to 106 million euros ($137 million). Its yet another indication of the resilience top luxury brands have shown during the economic slowdown in Europe, helped by demand from wealthy tourists from emerging markets. According to Bloomberg, Ferragamos recent growth spurt is largely due to markets on the perimeter such as Indonesia, Vietnam and especially China, where Ferragamo has doubled its number of stores to about 66. In just a few years the Asia-Pacific region has become the largest contributor to Ferragamos revenues (36 percent), maybe not surprisingly since Goldman Sachs has predicted that China will consume about 29 percent of the worlds total luxury goods by 2015, surpassing Japan as the worlds top luxury brands market. But according to Milton Pedraza, CEO of the New York-based researcher, Luxury Institute LLC, the reason for Ferragamos higher revenues is not just booming demand for luxury goods in developing countries but also its great product line-up, the culture of the brand, and how it builds relationships that allow it to gain greater market share.

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On Heritage

THEN AND NOW Clockwise from far left: The Ferragamo family with Salvatore,the creator of the brand; a model walking Salvatore Ferragamos A/W mens collection; the whole Ferragamo family.

HEIRLOOM An event held by Salvatore Ferragamo in honour of Sophia Loren, Rome, February 25,1935.

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IMAGES COURTESY, FERRAGAMO, BaNca Dati arcHivio, PHotograPH by loccHi fireNZe, Ferragamo

Pedraza acknowledges that the companys 2011 initial public offering (IPO) gave the company more resources to invest in stores across Asia, but feels that family traditions and values were and are still the brands most powerful marketing tool. Ferragamo is a very consumer-centric brand, he says, a brand that knows its consumer extremely well, with a deep-rooted relation with consumers one main reason for the consistent success of the brand. Giovanna Ferragamo would argue that coherence and trust are among the values Ferragamo stands for. We have always been very careful to be in touch with our roots, says Giovanna. We have been very strict in our principles of workmanship and credibility; and the brand is synonymous with absolute integrity. When Giovannas father Salvatore began his shoemaking career a century ago, he was so passionate and detail-oriented about his craft that he spent time studying the anatomy of the foot, so as to be able to produce the very best footwear, comfortable as well as attractive. Sixty-nine-year-old Giovanna, unlike her surviving siblings, all of whom were very small when their father passed away in 1960, has some memories of him. He was the one to push me into the fashion arena, very demanding in certain aspects of work while being open in others, she says. He shared a wonderful relation with his workmen, Giovanna goes on. They were more like family. He used to respect each person and felt that each one of them had an important link to the end product and the brand. While Salvatore made the brand famous with his iconic shoes, other family members expanded the group to

include ready-to-wear, perfumes, jewelry, leather goods and watches. But all of this was part of a bigger plan. My father was always telling us, when all of you join the company, we will expand into more countries and make so many more new products, says Giovanna. He was already well known in the U.S. He traveled a lot to Australia, to Japan and just before he died he was studying the anatomy of the Asian feet. He was open to expansion and was already planning for this. I started the ready-to wear collection; my sister opened the accessory line; and then we opened the mens line, she recounts. Each one of us, as we joined the company, was expanding in new areas. The group has grown a lot. Giovanna has stepped back from her designing days she led the design team from the 1960s to the 90s but she still oversees the creative side of things. I enjoyed my time when I was doing it, she

BEAUTY AND DETAILS Left, Freida Pinto,Massimiliano Giornetti, Karolina Kurkova at a recent event; below, Vaporosa, prototype of a grey satin high heel pump embroidered with pearls, silver and gold beads and rhinestone in a floral motif.

TOP TO bOTTOM From top: David Lee, Salvatore Ferragamo with models wearing his inventions, Kimo,1951; left, Giovanna and Ferruccio Ferragamo at the launch of their latest perfume; below, Damigelle, prototype of a brocade ankle boot with gold kid heels, created especially for Sophie Loren, 1957.

remembers. Every collection was like a test for us. There was so much work involved, it was very stimulating times. With a strong and distinctive fashion sense, Giovanna loves to mix and match her clothes to achieve a classic look with a twist of modernity. Never boring though, she laughs. I always had to dress the shoes, instead of doing it the other way around! One most important link in the Ferragamo story is Giovannas mother, Wanda Ferragamo. After Salvatores death in 1960 Wanda, who had no experience of working, was left not just to manage their five children but also to steer this huge company, a job she seems to have done really well. She served as the chairman of Salvatore Ferragamo Italia S.p.A. until August 2006 and was its director until June 2011, when the company went public. She was clever and determined, and also passionate about the brand her husband created, recalls Giovanna, adding: We called her The Boss. The success of the brand is also attributed to CEO Michele Norsa, appointed in 2006 with a 35-year track record as executive manager of Italian family firms in fashion (Benetton) and publishing (Rizzoli) and an IPO

for Italian fashion house Valentino under his belt. It was Norsa who orchestrated Ferragamos IPO, selling about 22 percent of the company to fund an ambitious plan to open 25 stores ten in China alone plus a refurbishment of flagship stores in major world capitals such as London and New York, according to INSEAD Knowledge. Norsa stressed the global importance of China when he talked to INSEAD Knowledge this summer: Combined with the growth of Europe and the United States, China has become fundamental. In the next five to ten years we will still see opportunities on the perimeter in China, because second, third-tier Chinese cities are representing this opportunity, he said, referring to domestic growth within the country. With turmoil and uncertainty in the global economy, many observers questioned the timing of the IPO. But Norsa and the family have proved the naysayers wrong, with positive results over the past few years. A lot of people were thinking that probably a new listing would only happen in Asia or outside Europe. We proved there were still opportunities for good companies, Norsa said. The two successful IPOs, Valentino and Ferragamo, paved the way for other Italian brands such as Brunello Cucinelli and Moleskine to follow suit with listings on the Milan stock exchange. In his meeting with me, SF group president Ferruccio Ferragamo, Giovannas brother, explains the strategic thinking behind the IPO. We decided to go public on the stock exchange because it seemed the most coherent choice in terms of governance for a company such as ours, and aligned with our plans for global expansion. Nevertheless, we decided to float the minimum percentage of stock with the aim of keeping an absolute majority of share capital to continue along the path of development marked out by my family in recent years.

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On Heritage

While cynics carped that the IPO would sound the death knell for Ferragamos creativity and its Made in Italy cachet, nothing drastic has happened at all to mar the companys performance or damage the brands Italian exclusivity. From a manufacturing point of view, the public offering obliges us to be increasingly efficient, and we were committed to further increasing the groups profitability, says Ferruccio, adding that it was improved operational efficiency that led to the upturn in SFs earnings. Being a completely Made in Italy company is a strategic choice in which we believe wholeheartedly, a choice made by my father when he moved to Florence in 1927, for the very reason that he found a unique heritage of craftsmanship and production excellence here.

Luxury goods and brands such as ours have held up better, says Ferruccio Ferragamo, perhaps because of our consistent, diversified presence in all the worlds markets.
Nothing is left to chance at Ferragamo, and as far as generational change is concerned, the family has a rule that only a maximum of three members from each new generation can join the company. We are a huge family, which in its fourth generation includes more than 70 members, says Ferruccio. And to be able to become part of the company is no simple inheritance that can be taken for granted. The aspirants need to have a masters degree, have gained two years work experience outside the company, and lastly pass an admission exam conducted by members of the family working in the company. At present, there are two members of the third generation in the company: my niece, Angelica Visconti, who is Retail and Wholesale Director for Italy, and my son James, who is Womens Leather Products Director, he says. Reflecting on the fact that the brand seems to have successfully weathered many storms, Ferruccio feels the luxury goods sector has felt the effects of the global recession a little less than others. Looking at todays results, luxury goods and brands such as ours have held up better, perhaps because of our consistent, diversified presence in all the worlds markets, he says. And is Ferragamos design creativity also holding up in todays global fashion market? Creative director Massimiliano Giornetti is said to have a flair for doing the extraordinary, after his very imaginative move to launch a collection inside the Louvre. For someone who had a distinct flair for architecture but later decided that fashion was the best way to express his creativity, Giornetti certainly has come a long way in proving his instincts right. Thirteen years with the brand, and Giornetti feels that craftsmanship and heritage are not just what Ferragamo is about but are also part of his own upbringing and conviction. The brand and the designer are so intimately connected that it seems as if they both stand for the same ideals, almost at the risk of the creator losing a bit of his own identity to keep in with the brands DNA. Luxury, to Giornetti, is a matter of materials research, quality and construction, right down to achieving maximum functionality of the final product, and also finding special precious detailing to make the

OLD AND NEW Clockwise from top: Satin sandal with cage heel, photographed by Lorenzo Cicconi Massi from the Ferragamo museum; Salvatore Ferragamo Galuchat; shoes and dress from Salvatore Ferragamo womens A/W14 collection.

brand exclusive. Which is why this years Ferragamo collection caused excitement with the new modern deconstructed look for which Giornetti seems to have found a passion. Gladiator boots, tailored trench coats, wrap skirts and brocade pants brought out the seasons edgy trend, without losing Ferragamos classy twist and its love for neutral colors. Fashion has become much more democratic according to Giornetti, and everyone now has access to it, making the work of designers much more challenging. I have to think of consumers who live around the world, and also understand that the consumer has changed to become more conscious, and even bold, in their fashion statement, he declares

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courtesy of Ferragamo