Obituary: Shoe Designer Elisa Ferare, 65
Shoe designer Elisa Ferare died on April 25 after a long battle with cancer. She was 65.
An interior designer and retail buyer and owner, Ferare began making her own shoes in 2000. She used high-end apparel and home deacute;cor fabrics for the collection, which was handmade by a cobbler based in Los Angeles. Elisa Ferare shoes sold in high-end retailers around the country, including Los Angeles boutiques Maxfield, Fred Segal and Madison; Jeffrey in New York; Josephine in Chicago; Wendy Foster in Montecito, Calif.; and Neiman Marcus stores in California, as well as internationally at stores in France, Tokyo, Canada, Dubai, Australia, Israel, Hong Kong and Ireland.
Ferare’s website (www.elisaferare.com) features a slideshow of quotes—from interior designer Kelly Wearstler to stylist Jennifer Rade—praising Ferare’s designs.
The Northern California native was self-taught, according to her son, Brian Rishwain, who said he was not surprised when she channeled her abundant creativity into the shoe collection—it was the latest in a long history of artistic endeavors.
“It was after she had already been a home renovator, interior designer, high-end women’s clothing-store owner and buyer, antique-store owner and buyer, stage and TV commercial actress—and incredible cook (for us at family dinners, anyway),” he said, adding that Ferare was “just brilliantly creative, in all ways.”—Alison A. Nieder
