Although he was born in Southern Italy, Salvatore Ferragamo owes a lot to Southern California. He came to Los Angeles in 1923 as a young man in his 20s, first designing shoes for films such as "The Ten Commandments," then opening the Hollywood Boot Shop at Hollywood Boulevard and Las Palmas. There, he built the foundation for today's global luxury brand by becoming cobbler to the stars.

Sophia Loren, Marilyn Monroe, Joan Crawford, Gloria Swanson and Audrey Hepburn were clients. He even studied anatomy at the University of Southern California to learn how to make his shoes more comfortable, before returning to Italy in 1927 and settling in Florence, where he focused on developing visionary designs such as the cage and the wedge heels.

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Source: http://www.latimes.com