The Social Lives of Shoes

The Footwear Research Network is becoming a non-profit social enterprise, and Alex, Emily and Pennie explain why now's the moment to get involved. After sixteen years bringing human insight to footwear sustainability, this step lets FRN operate independently, build real partnerships, and grow the podcast and This Is Not a Shoe workshops. Become a Founding Patron, support work already shaping...

How and why do we become attached to particular shoes? What does this mean for disposal? How might ideas of attachment inform circular and sustainable business models and consumer practices? In this episode Dr. Alexandra Sherlock speaks with Dr. Ellen Sampson author of 'Worn: Footwear, Attachment and the Affects of Wear' about how and why we become attached to shoes, and the implications...

Overview:  In this episode, Dr Alexandra Sherlock debriefs Dr Emily Brayshaw on her recent attendance at the 28th Annual IFFTI (International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes) Conference, hosted by RMIT University's Vietnam Campus in Ho Chi Minh City. The conference theme, ‘Cultural Connections for Sustainable Fashion Futures: Rebuild, Renew and Regenerate’, drew Alex to Vietnam wi...

Overview: In the third and final episode of our trilogy on footwear histories and archives, Dr Emily Brayshaw speaks with Dr Hilary Davidson, dress, textile and fashion historian and curator, about what we can learn from the consumption and manufacture of footwear in the Regency period, from proxy shopping networks and colonial supply chains to repair culture and the enduring value of archive-base...

The second episode in our three-part series on footwear histories and archives features Dr Emily Brayshaw in conversation with Elizabeth Semmelhack, Director and Senior Curator of the Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto. From the museum's founding vision to virtual footwear and sustainability, Elizabeth reveals how a world-class collection can simultaneously serve designers, researchers, and communitie...

What is the value of the footwear archive and museum? Why are so many brands now establishing their own archives, and how and why do footwear professionals engage with archival materials? In the first of three episodes on footwear histories, Dr Alexandra Sherlock chats with Tim Crumplin, business archivist at the Shoemakers Museum and Alfred Gillet Trust (Clarks Archive), to discuss the significan...

What makes a shoe iconic, and what can iconic shoes teach us about sustainability, design, and cultural exchange? Dr. Emily Brayshaw and Dr. Alexandra Sherlock bring together their research on Birkenstock and Clarks Originals to explore how shoes become long-lasting cultural objects. This conversation traces the journey of the Arizona sandal and Desert Boot from their origins in post-war German de...

In this episode of the Social Lives of Shoes with Dr. Alexandra Sherlock, contemporary fashion artist Jo Cope joins us to explore shoes as powerful vessels for storytelling and social change. From her collaborative project with Shelter addressing homelessness to her evocative twisted stilettos embodying feminist struggles, Jo reveals how craft and performance art can create empathy and drive meani...

What motivates people to commission a bespoke pair of shoes? What insights does the bespoke model offer into the importance of storytelling, customer loyalty, supply chain transparency, and design for repair? These questions, and more, are explored in this interview with bespoke shoemaker Gabriele Gmeiner in her Venice workshop. Chapters:  00:00 - Show intro 01:00 - Episode Overview 03:19 - Journe...

Dr. Alexandra Sherlock and Dr. Emily Brayshaw of the Footwear Research Network introduce the Social Lives of Shoes podcast. Visit https://footwearresearchnetwork.org/podcast for show notes, links, photographs and transcripts. www.footwearresearchnetwork.org