Salvatore Ferragamo : Feet First 雙腳優先

右： 鞋底的腳弓強化系統。在多年研究下，Ferragamo發明了革命性的鋼鐵鞋骨，可以支撐住足底弓，讓腳可以像反轉的鐘錘一樣移動。他在1929年申請專利的鞋骨，是他相當重要的發明之一，至今仍使用於他的鞋款內。
照片出處：羅馬，中央政府史料館

身邊環繞著文藝復興時期建築物(主體的拱門承受建築物的重量)的這位義大利人，對於物體的結構有一種直覺式的理解，他也將這理念運用於鞋款的設計上。

包括瑪麗蓮夢露等多位好萊塢明星，可能從Salvatore研究成果中感受到效果。但是這易變的平衡感，特別是不同高度的高跟鞋的平衡感，都是從科學出發，延伸至藝術的型態。

Caption: patent applications: left,Toe shoe with sole featuring a tapered edge glued to the sides of the upper and reinforcing the toe.

Right, Arch reinforcement system for shoe soles. As a result of his research, Ferragamo invented the revolutionary steel shank, which supported the plantar arch, enabling the foot to move like an inverted pendulum. The shank, which he patented in 1929, was one of his most important inventions and is still used in the brand’s shoes.
Credit Rome, Central Government Archives.

With the intuitive understanding of an Italian who is surrounded by Renaissance architecture (where the premium arch takes the building’s weight), Ferragamo brought the same principle to shoes.

Marilyn Monroe, among other Hollywood stars, may have felt the benefit of Salvatore’s studies. But the volatile balance, especially in heels of different heights, was developed from scientific understanding into an art form.

圖說：左， 依據Salvatore Ferregamo為瑪麗蓮夢露所創作的亮漆高跟鞋而設計的鞋款。

右：Salvatore Ferragamo為瑪麗蓮夢露製作的鞋楦，從上面的痕跡可以看出，此品牌為這位好萊塢巨星製作了多款的鞋。
照片出處：Arrigo Coppitz

這位「明星的製鞋師」了解人體的整個身體的重心，都落於足部腳弓的鉛錘線。

看見賈克梅蒂(Alberto Giacometti)青銅雕像《Capsizing Man》所展現的脆弱的面向，我與這位藝術家的感想頗有共鳴：「生物極為脆弱，看起來很像他們為了持續站立，用盡體內僅剩的體力。」

Caption Left: red patent-leather pump based on the shoe created by Salvatore Ferragamo in the Fifties for Marilyn Monroe.

Right: the last created by Salvatore Ferragamo for Marilyn Monroe’s foot. The marks are evidence of the many different shoes designed for the Hollywood star.
Credit Photo credits: Arrigo Coppitz

The “shoemaker to the stars” understood that the entire weight of the body falls in a plumb line on the arch of the foot.

Looking at the fragility of Alberto Giacometti’s bronze figure of the Capsizing Man, I shared the artist’s impression of “the frailty of living beings, as if at any moment it took a formidable amount of energy for them to remain standing.”

圖說：左， Philippe Petit 走在紐約世界貿易中心兩座大樓之間的鋼索上，紐約，1974
照片出處：Bill Stahl Jr./紐約每日新聞，透過Getty Images
圖說：右， La Funambule (1943)，賈克梅蒂(Alberto Giacometti)
照片出處：New York, Yoshii Gallery

Caption Left: Philippe Petit walking the wire between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, New York, 1974
CreditBill Stahl Jr./NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Caption Right: La Funambule (1943), by Alberto Giacometti
Credit New York, Yoshii Gallery

Ferragamo鞋楦與模具陳列展示

在我之前的文章中，我曾經批評有些時尚品牌設計出如此荒謬的高跟鞋，問女人們為什麼要為了美而忍耐這樣的不適。

展覽的策展者讓我了解，要打造出自然的「平衡狀態」的鞋子有多麼困難 – 必須顧及牽動整個骨骼的肌肉與掌控身體的神經。

A display of Ferragamo lasts and foot moulds

In my previous post, I wrote about some of the absurdities of high-heeled fashion and asked why women were prepared to suffer to be “beautiful”.

The curators of the exhibition made me understand how difficult it is to create in footwear the “equilibrium” bestowed by nature – the muscles that move the skeleton and the neurons that control the anatomy.

圖說：瑪莎‧葛萊姆的現代舞演出，1943

照片出處：Gjon Mili//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

但是這場展覽所提供的科學資訊，卻和一款輕盈的皮質宮廷鞋一樣輕盈。如果想更進一步了解這些數據，可以研讀展覽的導覽冊，以及書內精緻規劃的歷史回顧。

Caption A modern dance performance by Martha Graham, 1943

Credit Photo credit: Gjon Mili//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

But the scientific side of the exhibition is as light as a pair of fine leather court shoes. Those wanting to take the lesson further, can study the Equilibrium catalogue and its beautifully presented historical overview.

圖說：卡諾瓦(Antonio Canova)藝術品中的舞者與優雅的節奏感 (1799)

照片出處：Possagno, Museo e Gipsoteca Antonio Canova

圖文並茂的這本書，涵蓋卡諾瓦(Antonio Canova)作品中舞者的新古典風格的平衡感，還有她們的「優雅的節奏」，還有美國前衛舞蹈家康寧翰(Merce Cunningham)，以及概念性藝術家阿布拉莫維奇(Marina Abramovic)以堅硬的紫水晶雕刻出的Shoes for Departure (1991年)。

Caption Antonio Canova’s  dancers and their rhythms of grace (1799)

Credit Possagno, Museo e Gipsoteca Antonio Canova

The fully illustrated book embraces the Neo-classical balance of Antonio Canova’s dancers and their “rhythms of grace”, the harsher visions of the distorted toes of American avant-garde dancer Merce Cunningham, and the implacably rigid carved amethyst Shoes for Departure (1991), by conceptual artist Marina Abramovic.

圖說：康翰寧(Merce Cunningham)演出的 《滑稽可校的相遇Antic Meet》，攝影師Robert Rauschenberg，1958年。
照片出處：Photo by Richard Rutledge. Art © Estate of Robert Rauschenberg/Licensed by VAGA, New York
Caption Merce Cunningham in Antic Meet, photographed by Robert Rauschenberg in 1958.
Credit Photo by Richard Rutledge. Art © Estate of Robert Rauschenberg/Licensed by VAGA, New York

圖說： Shoes for Departure (1991), 雕塑品，素材為紫水晶，雕塑家阿布拉諾維奇Marina Abramovic作品
照片出處：Paris, Collection Enrico Navarra.

我希望這場展覽有機會到其他地點巡迴展出，因為內容紮實，遠比單純展覽一堆鞋子的展覽更有意義 – 就如Salvatore本人，就是將藝術、科學和整體的智慧融入於他那謙卑的技藝中。

Caption Shoes for Departure (1991), in amethys tby Marina Abramovic
Credit Paris, Collection Enrico Navarra.

I hope this exhibition travels, because it is so much more meaningful than a mere display of footwear – just as Salvatore himself brought art, science and overall intelligence to his apparently humble craft.