Salvatore Ferragamo (1898–1960) was born in Bonito, near Naples. As a boy, he was apprenticed to a cobbler. He emigrated to Boston at the age of fourteen, where he worked in a large footwear company. In 1923 he moved to California and opened a shoe shop. A contract to make shoes for the American Film Company ensured the shop’s success and Ferragamo stayed in California until 1927, when he moved his business to Florence. From its beginnings the company was associated with fine leatherwork and with the use of inventive materials. Woven raffia, plastic filaments and cork all featured in early Ferragamo designs.

This shoe design, Rainbow 3, created for Spring/Summer 2015 is a refashioning of Ferragamo's earlier rainbow designs. The Museum’s collections also contains a low-heeled, earlier version of this design made in 1986 (T.91-1988) in addition to a pair of the original 1930s rainbow-hued suede wedge sandals (T.84-1988). The 1930s version has become a widely recognised signifier of Ferragamo’s early bold footwear designs and skilled leatherworking techniques. The updated 2015 design reverts to a material also long associated with the Tuscan region, straw work.