Shoemaker of Dreams: A designer's story told through paper

It's the third Thursday of October, and time once again for the monthly ROY G BIV photo challenge. Since we've already gone through the colors of the rainbow, you may recall (after doing "pink" in August & "black" in September) that we're focusing on colors beyond the rainbow for the rest of the year. This month it's "white."

 

Though I don't shop in the luxury label shops that begin in Piazza Santa Trìnita and line both sides of Via Tornabuoni (the street that leads north from it), I must say that I love walking through this area. My primary shopping mode is of the "window" variety (as much as I love the idea of being beautifully dressed, I have very little patience for shopping), but the windows of these designer shops never fail to interest, amuse, surprise & amaze me.

I have been wanting to share these photos of some very special Ferragamo window displays since I took them back in April 2013 (yes, I am a little behind with my blogging plans), and today finally seemed like the perfect chance. Instead of the usual clothing and accessories showcased in the shop's numerous windows, for a brief period each one contained a marvelous creation: the pages of enormous "books" had come to life with imaginative & intricate cutouts. Accompanying them were passages from Shoemaker of Dreams: The Autobiography of Salvatore Ferragamo, which inspired each of these lovely works of art.

While the book pages are white, thus in line with the "white" theme, I find the reflections of the buildings in Piazza Santa Trìnita and along the Arno side of the Ferragamo shop to be equally intriguing.

Incidentally, the little square where the Ferragamo building sits was mainly a traffic thoroughfare when I wrote The Piazzas of Florence (it was among the dozen piazzas I included), but has since undergone a series of wonderful improvements. The column in the center, which used to be barricaded, has been restored to public use (i.e. you can sit on the stone bench surrounding it), the paving stones were replaced/refitted/leveled...and, most importantly, you see more pedestrians and bicycles than cars since vehicular traffic is very limited now. It is a true pleasure to walk through and spend time in, and certainly more befitting the church and grand palaces that surround the piazza. Few people were out & about on this chilly morning when I took the photos, but there's usually a pleasant bustle throughout the day.

 

The photo above/left was one of my favorites from this outing; it looks as though the façade of Santa Trìnita church is sitting at the back of this shop (Sergio Rossi, I believe).

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To finish, here is an image of some white buildings reflected on the Arno as I walked home after photographing the Ferragamo window "exhibition"...

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The ROY G BIV photo challenge was first begun by artists
Jennifer Coyne Qudeen & Julie Booth. Each month is devoted to
a different color, and all are welcome to join in the search.
Please visit their blogs for links to other participants.

Guidelines are here.