Hollywood greats like Rudolph Valentino, Mary Pickford, Joan Crawford and Gloria Swanson are some of his devotees. And although Salvatore Ferragamo passed away in 1960, the fashion house that bears his name continues its link with the cinema.

On Wednesday, January 18, 2006, while Milan previews the 2006 menswear collections, a major event is scheduled to take place at Salvatore Ferragamo’s flagship store in Fifth Avenue, New York, to inaugurate celebrations making 10 years of activity of Medusa Film, an Italian filmmaker.

The evening will be attended by such celebrated film directors as Gabriele Salvatore, Ettore Scola, Gabrielle Muccino and Fernan Ozpetek. The event will provide an opportunity for a series of screenings of the Italian film company’s major successes at MOMA, New York’s Modern Art Museum.

Salvatore Ferragamo’s link with the cinema started during the early 1920s, when the young shoemaker immigrated to California, making boots and sandals for westerns and epics in the new Hollywood studios.

In 1923, he opened his ‘Hollywood Boot Shop’ on the corner of Hollywood and Las Palmas Blvd. while gradually garnering a following of film stars seduced by the beauty and comfort of his handmade creations, and eventually earning him the nickname ‘Shoemaker to the Stars.’

He returned to Florence, Italy in 1927. Continuing his business over there, Hollywood did not forget him, and vice versa. His innovative approach to shoe making and in his inventions like the metal reinforced stiletto made famous by Marilyn Monroe and the invisible sandal which won him the Neiman Marcus Award made him a household word in the U.S.

That time, Sofia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, Greta Garbo, Lauren Bacall and Anne Magnani are counted among his devotees.

Salvatore Ferragamo had been gone for over 40 years, but his legacy continues, thanks to his wife Wanda Miletti and their six children, who have run Salvatore Ferragamo Italia Spa with admirable resolve and unity of purpose.

Today, Salvatore Ferragamo is available in 55 countries with more than 220 freestanding stores around the globe.

The latest Hollywood film that ‘stars’ Ferragamo creations – ‘Fur’ starring Nicole Kidman and due in theaters in late 2006. The store of fashion photographer Diane Arbus, Nicole Kidman as the famous American photographer shoots Salvatore Ferragamo shoes.