Ready, steady, fashion! It’s the Ferragamo yacht race
When Leonardo Ferragamo bought a boat yard, he didn’t just create a beautiful vessel. He also set up a glamorous annual contest for owners
A champagne-drenched Leonardo Ferragamo is belting out the Italian national anthem while holding aloft the ClubSwan One Design Worlds trophy. Looking considerably younger than his 70 years, Leonardo is a persuasive advert for spending summer afternoons racing yachtsmen half your age around the Mediterranean. It’s the last weekend of 2023’s Nautor Swan One Design world championships and he’s living his best life having secured the world title for the second year running.
Ever since his father, Salvatore Ferragamo, emigrated from Italy to open his first store in Hollywood 100 years ago, the family name has been shorthand for understated Italian style. Since buying the luxury yacht brand Nautor Swan 25 years ago, Leonardo has blended this inherited eye for luxury details with the yard’s Finnish tech expertise to create a sailing megabrand.
Leonardo first took to the sea aboard a Flying Dutchman yacht aged 14. Sailing is in his heart.
“I love the sense of freedom, the beauty and the challenge on the water — these things are so important to me as a person. The horizon just keeps heading on. Like in business, as you reach one goal, the limits of your vision are extended and so you keep sailing.”
He has led the family fashion house for five decades, most recently as chairman, and created the Lungarno hotel collection in 1995, but he couldn’t resist the opportunity to take over the Nautor boatyard in 1998. It’s the definition of a passion project.
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“I had a vision to transform this hugely respected yard, which made incredible boats, into a brand that centred itself around its customers, giving them the wide range of opportunities and experiences that Swan provides today.”
The Swan One Design racing circuit created by Ferragamo in 2016 has considerably upped the glamour and excitement quota of these yachts. Every summer, five race events are held at luxury ports around the Med with owners competing at the helm of their own boats. The entry criterion? Just the purchase of a Swan (starting price approximately £2 million).
This year, 33 owners (including Tuscan vintners, Brazilian Olympians and Norwegian royalty) brought their friends, families and hand-selected teams to the Italian finale. Racing hard in the daytime, they party enthusiastically once the sun sets.
The events combine serious competitive racing and Ferragamo flair. With immaculately dressed teams, silk-scarfed race co-ordinators, free-flowing vintage wines, a fleet of Porsche marina transfers and sparkling trophies aplenty, October’s final regatta of the 2023 season in Marina di Scarlino is quite something to behold. Even the sensible sailing shorts are monogrammed, immaculately pressed and tailored. The guests’ deck shoes are (of course) the finest buttery-soft leather
Leonardo is the consummate host, leading the entertainment for the fleet of owners, while also competing himself. This personal involvement is all-pervading. He’s a man who knows how he wants things to look and is not one to overlook the details.
“I just like to design and to think of new products and ideas — whether they are shoes or fashion or architecture or boats.”
Such emphasis on aesthetics can be seen in the abundance of lion’s head motifs on his bottle-green racing yacht Cuordileoni. It’s built for speed, but the need to look good is clearly paramount.
Not many company chairmen enthuse about typefaces, but Leonardo himself scoured the archives to find a 1938 font that inspired the recent replacement of the long-hand “Salvatore Ferragamo” logo with a more stylised “Ferragamo”.
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Rather endearingly, he admits to feeling goosebumps when describing the new shade of Ferragamo red launched last autumn, which replicates the exact tone of the first pair of Swarovski crystal heels his father made for Marilyn Monroe in 1960.
“It’s about continuing the company’s strong direction and identity … extracting elements from the past and creating an identity for the future.”
Leonardo spends much of the summer sailing with his children. When not racing, he would usually be found aboard his 115ft Swan Solleone. However, the luxurious family yacht was recently sold (asking price €13 million) and the details of its replacement are under wraps.
With the trophies awarded and the party in full swing, Leonardo’s quest for brand perfection is undimmed. I can’t help but notice he’s gazing at my rather ancient Ferragamo tote, politely asking if he can take a photo.
“That’s a lovely bag. It is beautiful and I’m very honoured that you’re wearing it but it needs refreshing.”
For Leonardo, it’s all about the details.
