Wanda Ferragamo

Wanda Ferragamo (18 December 1921 - 18 October 2018) - born Wanda Miletti in Bonito (Avellino, Italy), was an Italian fashion designer and businesswoman. She was the head designer of Ferragamo.
Motherless, she was the daughter of Fulvio Miletti, the mayor and municipal doctor of Bonito, physician of the Ferragamo family and their client. During the summer of 1940, at the age of 18 years old, she met and then married Salvatore Ferragamo, in the church of Santa Lucia in Naples. From their marriage, six children were born: Fiamma, Ferruccio, Giovanna, Fulvio, Leonardo, Massimo.
After the wedding, they moved to Florence in a villa near Fiesole.
After the death of her husband in 1960, Wanda took over the family-owned manufacturer, thus becoming the CEO for more than 20 years. She grew up in a wealthy family, so she was attending school as her mother did, but she had no specific professional training: as a result, she learned how to manage a company by watching and listening to her husband. Since then, the company turned from a footwear company to a ready-to-wear and fashion wear with expanded product lines, thanks also to the help of her sons.
She died in Florence on October 18th, 2018. 