Corporate museums to enhance brand authenticity in luxury goods companies: the case of Salvatore Ferragamo

Increasingly, relationships are being formed between art and fashion. Companies in the luxury goods and fashion industries endeavour to build this relationship in different ways. In the different approaches taken, the corporate museum seems to play an important role in strengthening the brand and promoting the company’s heritage. Clearly, recognizing history and tradition – considered a hallmark of postmodernity – and the consumer’s search for authenticity have contributed to the proliferation of corporate museums. This study analyzes the authenticity associated with the Salvatore Ferragamo brand, whose corporate museum is viewed as an authentication tool, both within the company (family members and management representatives) and outside it (opinion leaders and visitors).