Fiorina is the diminutive form of the word Fiore, a flower in Italian. It is also the name of a pointe shoe brand manufactured in the beautiful country of Venezuela, South America. They say that you attract what you think about the most, and on the days when I am relaxed and looking at pointe shoes online for no specific reason, I stumble upon some of these lesser-known companies as though by magic. Such is the case with the Venezuelan Fiorina brand.
The Touching Story Behind The Fiorina Brand
At first, all I had to share with you about this interesting shoe was a few up close images. After a short amount of Internet searching, I actually found some shareable information about this company. Fiorina was founded by Ermanno Fiorucci, an Italian who came to live in Venezuela in 1955.
He had three daughters who were devoted to ballet, but pointe shoes were incredibly expensive and hard to find in that time because the country’s currency had lost value. To help his daughter with her shoe needs, Mr. Fiorucci carved out a wooden last and took it upon himself to make shoes for his daughters and for dancers in Venezuela.
To this day, Fiorina pointe shoes are made by hand with very little fanfare in the way of expensive advertising to keep costs low for their customers. I was moved by this amazing story; not only of the enterprising spirit of a businessman filling a need in the dance market, but as a loving father trying to provide a solution for his ballet-loving daughters.
Fiorina doesn’t have an eCommerce website per say, but you can see a wonderful photo of Mr. Fiorucci hard at work making his brand of hand-made pointe shoes by visiting this blog, Disenosfiorina.blogspot.com.
Intriguing Aspects About These Shoes; Two-Tone Materials
Fiorina Laura
Like a few other models mentioned on this site, the Fiorina brand combines the design principles of a cobbler from one country that manufactures his products in another country, then gives his shoe models English-sounding names. * How’s that for an interesting mix ?
This is the kind of stuff that will keep me interested in pointe shoes for the rest of my life; maybe longer! Another unique feature noted is the two-tones of pink material used to make this shoe; especially noticeable on the heel seam.
Fiorina Has Two Models; Laura And Margaret
Laura
I wish I could tell you which one of the photos at the very top of this page is the Laura model and which one is the Margaret, but I can’t.
However, the Laura model shown here on the right can be seen for sale at Tintorettodance.com
I was lucky enough to find a Facebook conversation where someone asked Tintorettodance the difference between the Laura and Margaret. They are basically the same shoe, only the Laura has extra cushioning inside the toe box for more support. You can see the hot pink cushion inside the box of the shoe above.
* Speaking of the names Laura and Margaret; Laura is derived from the Latin name Laurus, like the leaves of Roman Laurel trees. Margaret derives from the Latin Margarita, meaning pearl. They may sound English to my ears, but they are not. Now it makes perfect sense why Mr. Fiorucci named his shoes with these names.
Contact Information for Fiorina : disenosfiorina@hotmail.com
Pointe Shoe Brands 