The sports category has moved to a new website.

Fulvia Visconti Ferragamo, luxury house executive, dies at 67

By the time Fulvia Visconti Ferragamo was a teenager, there was a well-established precedent in her family: To be a daughter of Salvatore Ferragamo was to work for Salvatore Ferragamo.

When her turn came, at age 20, Fulvia gravitated toward accessories: the lively printed silk scarves and ties that would become part of the 91-year-old Italian fashion house’s visual identity.

“We all found our own way of expressing our talents; we completed each other, like all sisters do,” Visconti Ferragamo told The New York Times Style Magazine in 2014. (At Ferragamo, she was always “Mrs. Fulvia.”)

Her decadeslong career bridged the creative and corporate management sides of Salvatore Ferragamo. She served as vice president and creative director of men’s and women’s silk accessories until she died in Milan on April 25 at 67.

ADVERTISEMENT

Family members said the cause was cancer.

Fulvia Ferragamo was born in Florence on July 2, 1950, to Salvatore and Wanda Ferragamo. Her father had established himself as a leather shoemaker at the beginning of the 20th century — first in the United States, where he designed for Hollywood actors, then in Florence.

The company came on hard times during the Depression and filed for bankruptcy in 1933. But business boomed after World War II, as the family leather business expanded into a well-rounded luxury house, with a larger variety of shoes, women’s clothing and other accessories.

Salvatore Ferragamo died in 1960, a year and a half after asking his eldest daughter, Fiamma, to join the company. Wanda Ferragamo took over the business and became the matriarch to three generations of Ferragamo women.

Visconti Ferragamo joined the family business in 1970 as an accessories designer. Her silk scarves, the first of which were created in 1974, bore naturalistic prints: tigers, elephants and lions cast against floral backgrounds. Her designs were an expression of her love of the outdoors; she raised horses and liked to sail.

ADVERTISEMENT

In 1971 she married Giuseppe Visconti, a lawyer, in Fiesole, just outside Florence. The couple moved to Milan so Visconti Ferragamo could focus on creating a new branch of the company there. On top of her organizational duties, she continued to oversee the design of scarves, costume jewelry and silk ties.

She is survived by her husband; their children, Angelica Visconti Ruspoli, Ginevra Visconti Bassetti, Maria Consolata Visconti di Modrone and Emanuele Visconti; her mother; and her siblings Ferruccio (the company chairman), Leonardo and Massimo Ferragamo and Giovanna Gentile Ferragamo. Her daughter Angelica joined the Ferragamo ranks as the brand’s retail director. Fiamma Ferragamo died in 1998.

“Fulvia was my sister and a best friend, and she and I had a very strong bond and camaraderie,” her brother Massimo, chairman of Ferragamo USA, said in an email. “We will never forget Fulvia because she not only brought color into our lives through the company and everything she did to create the accessory division, but she brought life and sparkle into our family and our lives with her incredible personality, charm and grace."

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

BONNIE WERTHEIM © 2018 The New York Times

ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: news@pulselive.co.ke

Recommended articles

African countries with the highest divorce rate

African countries with the highest divorce rate

10 African cities with the highest crime index at the start of 2024

10 African cities with the highest crime index at the start of 2024

Machoka at 70: Emotions run high during Citizen TV presenter's birthday [Video]

Machoka at 70: Emotions run high during Citizen TV presenter's birthday [Video]

Diwali 2022: Is Monday a public holiday in Kenya?

Diwali 2022: Is Monday a public holiday in Kenya?

Akothee finally reveals reasons for separating from Omosh 1 month after wedding

Akothee finally reveals reasons for separating from Omosh 1 month after wedding

Man, once a ‘billionaire’, recounts how he lost wealth, now sells his book on streets [Video]

Man, once a ‘billionaire’, recounts how he lost wealth, now sells his book on streets [Video]

Details of Ngina Kenyatta's luxurious restaurant

Details of Ngina Kenyatta's luxurious restaurant

Zero Chills! Jackie Matubia's advice for Milly Chebby amid the unfollow drama

Zero Chills! Jackie Matubia's advice for Milly Chebby amid the unfollow drama

Nigerian royal dignitaries, including four kings and a queen, expected to attend Museveni’s 50th wedding anniversary celebrations

Nigerian royal dignitaries, including four kings and a queen, expected to attend Museveni’s 50th wedding anniversary celebrations

ADVERTISEMENT