Maria Sole Ferragamo, founder of SO-LE Studio (2017)

Maria Sole Ferragamo is in Florence, Italy. Our interview begins with the image of art, given by Tuscan hills. “I’m in my garden at home, surrounded by the nature of the Florentine countryside, and this is where I am planning my next collection. The creative process has always been magical for me, something that has always given me immense joy. We desire and create with our heart. This is the close bond I have with my jewels.”

How was your passion for jewelry born?

I was born lucky. I believe that each one of us is born with a talent, but sometimes life passes by in front of you without discovering it. I discovered it when I was just nine years old, when my mother gave me a box with inside beads, a spool of copper wire and tweezers. From that moment onwards, I have started creating my first jewels and I have never stopped. I remember the best Saturday nights as entire nights spent working in the light of the desk lamp in my bedroom. Accomplice in my passion for the word of art, it was growing up in Florence in a creative environment, rich in culture and incentives. Every summer, I would spend at least two weeks learning the craft through expert artisans at Salvatore Ferragamo. It is also thanks to those summers that today my passion is fueled by the thought that, through the manipulation of the material, the final creation can be a vehicle of love.

What was your training path?

I graduated in Architecture at Politecnico di Milano and I decided to continue my studies in London. It was during the Master in Jewelry Design at the Central Saint Martins School that I started reusing the highest quality leathers, left unused, transforming them into jewels and giving them new life.

What do you wish to convey through your art?

My desire is to bring back to life the hidden beauty of abandoned things. There is a silent beauty not only in leather, but also in all the materials which have been discarded during the manufacturing process, and is that beauty I wish to share and bring back to light through my hands and my technique. I like to convey joy and amazement and to see them in those who observe and wear my creations. Sometimes those who wear them for the first time think they are made of materials different from leather and they are amazed by the lightness and smoothness of their shapes. Moreover, there is also a strong historical value that I want to convey, though reinterpreted in a modern way. I have always been fascinated by the garments and jewels of the past. I am thinking of Elizabethan bustiers for instance. Some of my creations take their strength from the past, but I replace the sense of constriction given by those bustiers with a sense of freedom that comes from the will of creating a sensation of pure comfort. In fact, I believe that the jewel has the power to set us free: both through the expression of our personalities and its wearability.

Maria Sole Ferragamo

Is there a jewel you are particularly fond of?

Impossible to choose, just like when you ask a mother for her favourite child. However, I love earrings. They are very light and you almost forget you are wearing them, even though they strongly contribute to characterizing the outfit. Tirabaci are the first I designed and I continue to create them. In fact, none of my creations comes from current trends. I try to realize pieces that can remain always in fashion even when fashion changes, giving longevity to models, although varying often colours and finishings of the leathers, which depend on what is available.

Tirabaci Earrings

What are your jewelry distinctive features?

Each jewel I design is the expression of a very intense creative process, composed of innumerable interactions. It is something architecturally and accurately designed, but at the same time alive and organic. I personally design the first prototype which is reproduced in a limited series by the best master craftsmen in Tuscany, by recycling and transforming high-quality leathers, left unused. They are all visual-impact items, able to characterize a look, but in a delicate and elegant way, visually rich but without frills. In most of the cases, I use leather as it is: in other cases I make special applications, like aluminium powder, gold leaf or unique foils. I do a lot of research to give the material qualities and features it does not have naturally, for instance stiffness or elasticity, to create the surprise effect and the amazement in the eyes of those who experience them. Many of my jewels have several possibilities of use, a versatility which not only allows more occasions of use, but also encourages a personal relationship with the wearer.

Dido Gold

There is also a strong sustainable component in your jewels, what made you choose sustainability?

It has never been a matter of choice, but of responsibility. I do not see sustainability as a goal, it has never been so for me. I have always thought of sustainability as a commitment, a constant responsibility which consists of always asking new questions. It means to make conscious choices. And this is what I do by recycling discarded leathers - that is, the use of existing resources - and by collaborating with excellences in the Tuscan territory.

How do you imagine SO-LE in the future?

I wish SO-LE Studio to be recognised internationally for the creation of innovation and beauty. I wish also that it will collaborate, as it is doing, with the world of art, museums and fashion. I would like to be able to offer an increasingly creativity and continue to design items marked by high quality at the expense of quantity.

Wright Bracelet