Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 188 - 185 Dinner (5)

Yan Yan originally planned to keep her distance from temperamental people after greeting them, if she couldn’t avoid them completely.

Concerning the director’s question, neither talking about the shoes she was wearing at the moment nor discussing any styles from the store or this year’s Fashion Week could sufficiently prove Yan Yan’s love for the brand.

Although Yan Yan didn’t understand Italian, the director’s tone and gaze immediately ignited Yan Yan’s "fighting spirit."

"I love many shoes designed by Mr. Salvatore Ferragamo," Yan Yan began, and Lei Pili started to translate.

Upon hearing this introduction, the last bit of goodwill on the director’s face vanished completely.

He somewhat wanted to leave his current spot; he was not there at the banquet to be harassed by interns, and the brand director somewhat regretted arriving a bit too early that day.

"I have three pairs of shoes I especially love, and two pairs whose comfort I find somewhat incomprehensible."

"The first pair I love is a gold sandal with an inverted pyramid design that Mr. Salvatore created in 1929, inspired by archaeological discoveries in Egypt. Those shoes did particularly well in terms of visual extension. They are a classic of that era and timeless."

"The second pair I love is the cork wedge heel shoes designed by Mr. Salvatore in 1937. I’m amazed at his ingenious ideas for shoe-making materials during an era of scarce resources. This design received a patent, and although it’s just one of the 350 patents registered by Mr. Salvatore, it is the very first patent in the history of world fashion."

"My third favorite pair is the rainbow platform shoes that Mr. Salvatore designed for the legendary actress Judy Garland in 1938. When designing those shoes, Mr. Salvatore invented the boat-shaped heel. This type of heel is still popular today and is the precursor of platform shoes. Besides the heel, the color scheme of the shoes is as beautiful as a rainbow. The design of these shoes, with their very high waterproof platform, makes them incredibly comfortable despite the high heels. I think boat-shaped heels have rescued short-statured Asian women."

After each description of a pair of shoes, Lei Pili would translate.

Lei Pili translated quickly, and there were hardly any moments Yan Yan had to wait for him.

Yan Yan had always known about Lei Pili’s English translation abilities, but she was still somewhat surprised that, without any preparation, he could so easily translate all this fashion history into Italian.

Yan Yan had thought that if Lei Pili struggled with the translation, she would try to keep things simple, but after he translated the first pair of shoes with ease, Yan Yan’s descriptions of her favorite shoes became even more detailed.

After listening to Yan Yan’s descriptions, the director dropped his standoffish demeanor.

"Which two pairs of shoes are those that you find hard to understand in terms of comfort?" The brand director, now interested in Yan Yan’s opinions, started asking directly in English.

Because he was not sure whether it was Yan Yan who truly had interesting thoughts or if it was the person translating her Chinese into Italian who was more insightful.

"The first pair whose comfort I cannot comprehend is the very famous ’invisible sandal’ made with fishing line by Mr. Salvatore in 1947, which won him The Neiman Marcus Award. I can’t understand how the fishing line could be incorporated into the shoes to provide enough comfort. I have always hoped to have the chance to truly wear and try out these shoes (note 1).

The other pair I think I would have to wear to understand their comfort is the pair of 18K gold sandals custom-made for a client from Australia in 1956." Yan Yan directly answered the director’s question, and since he was speaking English, there was no need for Lei Pili to translate from Chinese anymore.

Once the brand director started speaking in English, Lei Pili timely stepped back and went about his own business.

Indeed, it was her love for Salvatore Ferragamo that brought Yan Yan to Florence on a pilgrimage; if not for that, she would have already gone to New York to find Qi Yi.

Yan Yan had always thought that for Salvatore Ferragamo, the only materials that couldn’t be used for making shoes were those people couldn’t imagine, as there was nothing he couldn’t achieve.

"The ’invisible sandals’ are still in our museum. We can let you try them out when it’s appropriate. But as for the gold sandals, we only have pictures in our collection, so it’s likely you won’t have the chance to try them on," the director said, his words revealing a shift in his attitude.

"This is truly exciting news, but the unfortunate thing is, even if I really do get the chance to try them on, I won’t be able to feel their comfort, because those shoes wouldn’t be in my size.

In Australia, the Ferragamo shoes start at size 6.5 (equivalent to size 37 in China).

A few years ago, in China, they started at size 5.5 (36).

It was only later when size 3.5 (equivalent to size 34) Ferragamo shoes became available in mainland China and Hong Kong that I started having the chance to buy shoes from this brand.

But even now, the shoes I wear all need to be customized. For instance, the pair I’m wearing today, even if they were originally available in this color, I wouldn’t be able to get the right size.

After trying on several pairs of shoes, I found that when wearing Ferragamos, my actual size is only a 3 (equivalent to size 33.5 in China).

I suppose, in the eyes of designer brands, feet like mine definitely fall into children’s sizing.

If some luxury brands made shoes as small as size 3, there would likely be many more ’children’ fans like me." The challenge of having too small feet to find shoes was a significant frustration for Yan Yan.

Although she could wear a size 34, it was never the perfect fit.

"Ah ha, I will have someone do a market survey later to see how many potential ’child’ fans like you there are," the brand director said, showing some interest in the information Yan Yan had just provided.

.........

Note 1:

The Neiman Marcus Award is often translated as the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award.

This award is known as the Oscars of the fashion world. Established in 1938, it was last presented in 1995.

Besides Salvatore Ferragamo, who won the award in 1947, his eldest daughter Fiamma Ferragamo also won it in 1967, seven years after her father’s death.

The Vera mid-heel shoe with satin bows designed by Fiamma Ferragamo remains one of the best-selling shoe models globally to this day.