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In the 25 or so years since Famolare first started making shoes,
a lot has happened. Read the list below for highlights of the Famolare
legend.
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 Did
You Know?
- Famolare has been making shoes since 1970.
- Joe Famolare is a third-generation shoe designer and manufacturer.
- Joe studied musical theatre at Emerson College, before abandoning
his dreams of stagelight stardom for a job at Capezio where he
designed shoes for Broadway shows and the Bolshoi Ballet, among
others.
- One of his first shoes, a molded clog, won a Coty Award in 1973.
- Famolare's Bicycle logo was modeled after an unusual bicycle
design Joe saw in Italy. He still owns several of these bicycles.
- Famolare has worked with Twyla Tharp as an advisor developing
dance shoes for her dance troup.
- Famolare shoes are on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institution
in Washington, DC, and in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in NYC and the Cinncinnati Museum of Art.
- Among celebrities who have worn Famolare shoes are Paul Newman,
violinist Isaac Stern, Gregory Peck, and Walter Mathau.
- When Famolare's Get There shoe was introduced, Famolare commissioned
a new rock and roll song (called "Get There") to announce
its launch. He gave away copies of the record with each pair sold.
There was even a Get There dance.
- Get There was the first shoe made with Famolare's patented 4-wave
design.
- Joe Famolare once did a roller-skating performance atop a float
in a parade in Minneapolis—to promote Famolare Shoes, of
course.
- The main character in Linda Shaw's romance novel Way of the
Willow wears Famolare shoes. Quote: "'Those are my good
Famolares!' she wailed."
- The Footloose and Famolare ads were shot by world-famous photographer
Richard Avedon.
- Famolare once sponsored a Balloon Race and Jazz Concert featuring
12 competing balloonists and saxophonist Zoot Sims.
- Famolare shoes have been sighted on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- Famolare has also created tap shoes, which featured in a tap
dancing world record contest.
- Among the more exotic items modeled after the Famolare Shoe
design are the Shoe Bed, a giant shoe that doubles as a full-size
bed, and a sculpted shoe made entirely of lapis lazuli.
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