1990 to the Present
Over the past two decades, Ferragamo has pushed into new markets like Asia and developed such product categories as eyewear, watches and fragrances. It also faced some challenges, most notably suffering its second tragic loss — the 1998 death at age 57 of Fiamma Ferragamo, creative director and daughter of Salvatore and Wanda Ferragamo.
Salvatore Ferragamo made his name in the U.S., but Asia is Ferragamo’s biggest cash cow today. Japan and the rest of Asia bring in about half of the company’s sales, thanks to the extensive infrastructure Ferragamo built in the region during the Eighties and Nineties. Beating much of the fashion pack, Ferragamo had the foresight to enter the mainland Chinese market 12 years ago, making Ferragamo one of the first European luxury goods firms to establish a presence there.
These last two decades were also fruitful ones in product development. In 1990, Fiamma invented the trapezoid-shape handbag with the circular “Gancino” buckle closure. Eight years later, the company inked its only licensing deal, with Luxottica for Ferragamo-branded eyewear, and launched its first fragrance, Salvatore Ferragamo Pour Femme. Ferragamo’s first watch collection bowed in 2003. Perfumes and timepieces are made by Ferragamo-owned companies.
“Being conservative when it comes to licenses is still the best way to have total control and safeguard quality,” chief executive officer Ferruccio Ferragamo said in 2004.
Still, the most recent years of Ferragamo’s history have presented some of the company’s biggest challenges. The death of Fiamma, the award-winning creative soul of the company, was a major blow for both the family and fashion in general.
Smaller setbacks came later. Ferragamo struggled to grow the Emanuel Ungaro business it acquired in 1996 and accumulated a series of losses before eventually selling the fashion house late last year. Recent years have been inconsistent, at best, in Ferragamo’s design department, with the exit and subsequent return of chief women’s wear designer Graeme Black two years ago. The former Armani protégé has garnered lukewarm reviews for his collections, which lean toward classic fluid shapes in neutral palettes.
Hervé Martin, who has been product general manager at Ferragamo since 2003, said he has spent the last three years working with the family to modernize and rejuvenate the brand’s image and product line.
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“When I arrived at Ferragamo, it seemed to me that the brand had a tendency to separate itself too much from the public,” said Martin, who previously held posts at Kenzo, Louis Vuitton and Cartier. “It was a brand that had a tendency to be a bit too distanced, a bit too cold.”
To fix that, Martin and the Ferragamos rolled out a series of initiatives aimed at creating a closer connection with the customer, including the “I Love Salvatore” advertising campaign, store facelifts, high- profile product placements and special events like Ferragamo’s 2005 fashion show in Beijing’s Forbidden City.
The recent ad campaign, which features images of models and the words “I Love Salvatore” in large type, has been particularly successful, Martin said. The campaign ran for two seasons and a similarly styled campaign called “Live Love” bowed for this fall season. Previous Ferragamo campaigns played off concepts like lifestyle and quality, but lacked edge and an identifiable personality, Martin said.
“In a certain way, I’m happy when someone tells me that they don’t like the campaign because that means the campaign is saying something,” Martin said. “We don’t want to do things that are too consensus-oriented.”
Ferragamo last introduced a store concept in 2001 and Martin said it’s too soon for the company to start rolling out a new one. But the company has been tweaking its retail presentation over the past few years, toning down the lighting to give the stores a warmer feel and better showcasing some product lines such as eyewear.
Ferragamo is tapping the world of celebrities to invigorate its image. Despite the fact that founder Salvatore Ferragamo rose to fame by making shoes for the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardner and Greta Garbo, the company had let the stardust settle on its once glorious Hollywood connections as houses like Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Gucci and Versace dominated red-carpet events. But Ferragamo is attempting to revive that cinematic glamour. Sarah Jessica Parker carried a pleated Marisa handbag in a scene of this year’s “Failure to Launch” and Ferragamo made shoes for Ziyi Zhang’s red-carpet appearances at Cannes.
Martin said all these initiatives, along with a more modern product offering, are winning over a new customer base for the brand.
“It’s evolving also because we want to see it evolve. We want to have men and women customers who are a bit more…evolved, a bit less classic,” he said.
At the same time, the executive warned that Ferragamo should not attempt to woo “fashion-victim” types. Instead, the brand should reach out to a modern, younger clientele with an individual sense of style.
“[These customers] know how to use fashion and the trends to reinforce their own definition of their own style and taste,” Martin said. “They aren’t slaves to fashion. They are a lot more free in this sense.”