“Nodini” Sandal by Salvatore Ferragamo,1939. Courtesy of Museo Salvatore Ferragamo

The “Nodini” Sandal is made of cellophane and wicker, in the shades of blue and yellow. It belongs to the 1939 summer collection designed by Salvatore Ferragamo and represents one of the first models of shoes realized with that material.

The sandal is composed by a framework of cellophane on a blue wicker bottom, decorated with ocher knots. It has an ankle fastening and a wood heel covered by black kidskin.

Salvatore Ferragamo told that his biggest problem during the war was to find a material to replace high quality kidskin leather. One day, after many attempts, he found a solution in a chocolate box that was given as a gift to his mother : when unwrapping one of the chocolates, he was impressed by the material and thought it could be what he was looking for. Since then, Ferragamo started to make shoes in cellophane for his summer collections.

The object is part of Museo Salvatore Ferragamo. Discover more on the Europeana Fashion Portal.