If there were a Hall of Fame for shoes, the Vara by Salvatore Ferragamo would certainly be inducted into it. It is not just one of the best-selling designer shoes of all time; it was also one of the first to be designed by a woman.
That woman was Fiamma Ferragamo, the eldest child of the house's founder and the first of the second generation to lead the company. In 1978 she created the comfortable, mid-heel, calfskin pump with its instantly recognisable grosgrain bow — a quietly revolutionary marriage of elegance and ease that would go on to define the brand for generations of women.
Now, more than forty years later, the Vara is being reimagined. Paul Andrew — the company's first named in-house shoe designer since Salvatore died in 1960 — is reinventing the classic with a larger, more assertive bow. For the first time, that bow is constructed in the same material as the rest of the shoe, whether leather, denim or linen canvas, lending the silhouette a fresh, contemporary cohesion.
With two heel heights and sixty variations to choose from, there has never been a better moment to join the Vara evolution.
