The Social Lives of Shoes

Footwear Research Network
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Documentary

What if shoes could speak? The Social Lives of Shoes explores one of the most underestimated aspects of consumer culture through conversations with the people who design, make, study, and wear footwear. Hosts Dr. Alexandra Sherlock and Dr. Emily Brayshaw uncover how shoes reflect our values, impact our world, and offer possibilities for more sustainable futures.

Episodes

  1. 8. Understanding Attachment and Divestment For a Circular Economy with Dr. Ellen Sampson

    May 29

    8. Understanding Attachment and Divestment For a Circular Economy with Dr. Ellen Sampson

    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 of these attachments at the end of a shoe’s ‘life’. Credits: Interviewee: Dr Ellen Sampson Presenters: Dr Alexandra Sherlock & Dr Emily Brayshaw Produced and edited by: Dr Alexandra Sherlock Chapters: [00:58] Episode 8 Introduction[02:27] Emotionally Durable Design and Jonathan Chapman[07:48] Attachment and Shoes — The Palimpsest[16:57] The Pros and Cons of Durability[25.05] The Concept of Cleaving — Attachment and Detachment[27:59] Fetishising Shoes - Meaning and Metaphor[30:16] This Is Not a Shoe — Detachment Through Deconstruction[34:12] Divestment Strategies and Managed Letting Go[37:09] Ongoingness, Narrative, and Resale Platforms[48:42] Circularity, Loss, and Material Life Cycles      [50:28] Resources and What's Coming Next[52:21] Key Takeaways — Emily and Alex ReflectTranscript links and show notes at www.footwearresearchnetwork.org  www.footwearresearchnetwork.org

    1h 2m
  2. 7. Lessons from Vietnam: Culture, Craft and Footwear's Place in Sustainable and Regenerative Fashion Research

    May 12

    7. Lessons from Vietnam: Culture, Craft and Footwear's Place in Sustainable and Regenerative Fashion Research

    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 with a clear purpose: to put footwear on the radar of fashion sustainability researchers, and to ask what the field's most progressive thinking means for an industry that has long been left out of the conversation. Alex shares insights from key conference papers, translates their themes for a footwear audience, reflects on a visit to a Vietnamese footwear factory, and makes the case for culture as the essential foundation of any genuinely sustainable fashion future.  Credits: Presenters: Dr Alexandra Sherlock and Dr Emily BrayshawEdited and produced by: Dr Alexandra SherlockPhotographs and images: Credits in captions Chapters: [00:00] - Show Intro[00:47] - Acknowledgements and Corrections[05:22] - Vietnam and IFFTI: Cultural Connections for Sustainable Fashion Futures - Rebuild, Renew and Regenerate[08:23] - Footwear: The Blind Spot in Fashion Research [14:41] - School Uniforms and Permaculture[20:31] - School Uniforms, Government Funding and Repair Economies[25:55] - Inside a Vietnamese Shoe Factory[31:12] - Digital Product Passports, Blockchain and Storytelling[36:43] - Taming, Rewilding and the Capitalist Co-Option Problem[40:30] - Boro, Kintsugi and the Repair as Ritual[51:13] - Waste Not Want Not[56:01] - The Evolving Role of Higher Education[59:13] - Culture as the Fourth Pillar of Sustainability All links, images and verified transcripts at the Footwear Research Network www.footwearresearchnetwork.org

    1h 1m
  3. 6. Beyond Bridgerton: The Real History and Value of Regency Footwear with Dr Hilary Davidson

    Apr 23

    6. Beyond Bridgerton: The Real History and Value of Regency Footwear with Dr Hilary Davidson

    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-based research. Credits: Interviewee: Dr Hilary DavidsonInterviewer: Dr Emily BrayshawPresenters: Dr Alexandra Sherlock and Dr Emily BrayshawEdited and produced by: Dr Alexandra SherlockPhotographs and images: Credits in captions Chapters: 00:00 - Show Intro 00:59 - Episode 6 Overview and Context 13:56 - Introducing Hilary Davidson 17:08 - The Importance of Jane Austen 20:34 - Shoes in the Regency Period: An Overview 23:33 - Boots, Leisure, and Military Chic 26:37 - When Women's Shoes Lost Their Heels 29:30 - Regency retail: Letters and Proxy Shopping 32:42 - Convicts, Colonies, and the rise of the Global Shoe Trade 40:11 - Theft, Repair, and the Value of a Good Boot 43:00 - Historical Insights for Sustainability 46:07 - Australian Climate, Identity, and Style 51:06 - Current Projects and Future Directions 53:36 - Sign-off Full show notes at www.footwearresearchnetwork.org  www.footwearresearchnetwork.org

    54 min
  4. 5. Looking Back to Look Forward: Lessons from the Bata Shoe Museum with Elizabeth Semmelhack

    Apr 2

    5. Looking Back to Look Forward: Lessons from the Bata Shoe Museum with Elizabeth Semmelhack

    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 communities. And why material objects matter more, not less, in an increasingly digital world. Credits: Interviewee: Elizabeth Semmelhack: Director and Senior Curator at the Bata Shoe MuseumInterviewer: Dr. Emily BrayshawPresenters: Dr. Alexandra Sherlock and Dr. Emily BrayshawEdited and produced by: Dr. Alexandra SherlockPhotographs: Credits in captions Chapters 00:00 - Show Intro 00:58 - Episode 5 Overview 05:37 - How serendipity brought an art historian to footwear 08:11 - Shoes as Research Method:  Reading gender, economics and fashion through what people wore 11:14 - Debunking the Chopine: Why objects and cultural context must be studied together 15:02 - One Woman's Collection: The founding vision of the Bata Shoe Museum and how it has evolved 19:27 - Designers in the Archive: How and why designers engage with the Museum’s collections 23:22 - Object and Context: The power and significance of the material object 27:11 - The Worn-Out Sole: What signs of wear can reveal about bodies, lives and secondhand markets 31:07 - Twenty Billion Pairs: The scale of overproduction and why most of what we make can't be kept or recycled 34:38 - Shoes Without Bodies: Virtual footwear, the metaverse and what shoes might mean in digital space 38:32 - Next Steps: Roman forts, cowboy boots and beadwork:  the Bata Shoe Museum’s  current and upcoming projects 40:22 - Episode Reflection: Emily and Alex 43:30 - Show outro Show Notes www.footwearresearchnetwork.org

    44 min
  5. 4. How Footwear Archives Shape Brand Identity, Culture, and Design with Tim Crumplin

    Mar 27

    4. How Footwear Archives Shape Brand Identity, Culture, and Design with Tim Crumplin

    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 significance of public and private archives and the vital role of their custodianship for culture and industry. Credits: Interviewee: Tim Crumplin Interviewer: Dr. Alexandra Sherlock Presenters: Dr. Alexandra Sherlock and Dr. Emily Brayshaw Editor: Dr. Alexandra Sherlock Photographs: Credits in photograph captions Chapters: 00:00 - Show Intro 00:58 - Episode Overview - Emily and Alex 07:26 - Tim’s background and route into Clarks and the Alfred Gillet Trust 11:09 - How the archive has changed 14:15 - Recognising the value of the archive as a creative resource 18:28 - Street, Somerset and the Quaker influence on Clarks 24:40 - Vertical integration and traceability 27:50 - How to build an archive 37:23 - The vulnerability of shoe museums and archives 39:03 - The case for the charitable trust model 45:20 - Collection policy: what gets kept and why 49:40 - How designers use the archive in practice 55:30 - Archives, corporate culture and healthy approaches to risk-taking 01:06:47 - External access and community engagement 01:09:03 - Digitisation 01:16:52 - How to become a business archivist 01:19:04 - Finding and visiting the Shoemakers Museum  www.footwearresearchnetwork.org

    1h 22m
  6. 3. What Makes a Shoe Iconic? Birkenstock and Clarks Originals

    Jan 29

    3. What Makes a Shoe Iconic? Birkenstock and Clarks Originals

    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 design philosophies and African cultures to their unexpected adoption by communities worldwide, from Jamaican musicians to Sydney's lesbian scene, from Silicon Valley's Steve Jobs to Gen Z's comfort revolution. Emily and Alex discuss the role of business archives in authentic storytelling, how costume designers deploy shoes as narrative devices in film, why different shoes require different sustainability approaches, from repair programs for emotionally durable icons to biodegradable materials for more ephemeral styles, and how brands should listen to culture rather than trying to control it. Drawing on Appadurai and Kopytoff's theories of things in motion, they reveal how following shoes' social lives and biographies illuminates human values and creates pathways to meaningful, relevant and sustainable design. Chapters: 00:00 - Show Intro00:49 - Episode Introduction02:28 - Acknowledgment of Country - An Explainer for International Listeners05:56 - The Social Lives of Clarks Originals and Birkenstocks07:17 - Research Foundations: Clarks and Cultural Sustainability08:39 - Archetypes: The Arizona and the Desert Boot10:41 - Post-War Design Philosophy: Form Follows Function14:07 - Steve Jobs and the Power of Simplicity16:22 - Counterculture: From Hippies to Tech Visionaries20:40 - Archives and Anniversary Books23:13 - The Alfred Gillett Trust: Preserving Heritage26:19 - Icons Without Advertising28:02 - Queer Birkenstocks: Sydney's Lesbian Community31:10 - Jamaica Claims the Desert Boot32:15 - Hippies, Grunge, Gen Z: Meanings That Don't Compete34:22 - Sticky Objects: Shoes That Attract Communities35:05 - Ageless and Timeless: From 7 to 7036:31 - Wu-Tang and Granddad: Cross-Generational Appeal41:21 - Jamaica and Authentic Storytelling44:05 - When Shoes Become Cultural Objects44:32 - Costume design and characterisation44:42 - Costume Design: Shoes as Narrative Devices49:08 - The Symbolic Power of Footwear49:38 - Brands as Listeners: The Importance of Cultural Capital50:54 - World Shoes52:29 - Cultural Exchange and Collaboration54:33 - Gen Z, Authenticity, and Finding Your Tribe54:45 - Building Cultural Capital55:29 - Sustainability Through Meaning55:42 - Accidentally Sustainable56:56 - Repair, Patina, and Memory59:15 - Horses for Courses: Different Models for Different Shoes01:00:01 - A Social Lives Methodology: Following the Things Themselves01:02:45 - Episode Outro Credits: Presenters: Dr. Alexandra Sherlock and Dr. Emily Brayshaw Editor: Dr. Alexandra Sherlock Show notes and photographs: www.footwearresearchnetwork.org

    1h 3m
  7. 2. Storytelling Through Shoes: Art, Activism and Social Change with Jo Cope

    Jan 16

    2. Storytelling Through Shoes: Art, Activism and Social Change with Jo Cope

    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 meaningful dialogue. We discuss her therapeutic making process, the political power of red shoes, and how footwear can connect communities through shared experience. Jo shares insights from teaching ethical social practice and her current reflections on using art to navigate our challenging political climate—all through the humble yet profound medium of shoes. Credits: Interviewee: Jo Cope Interviewer & Presenter: Dr. Alexandra Sherlock Editor: Dr. Alexandra Sherlock Podcast Photograph:  Links & Images: Available at Footwear Research Network Chapters: 00:00 - Show Intro00:47 - Episode Intro: Jo Cope02:55 - The Power of Shoes as Storytellers04:29 - Jo Cope's Artistic Journey and Philosophy06:52 - An unexpected Trojan horse08:19 - Personal Experiences with Shoes10:28 - Educational Journey and Training15:21 - Family Legacy16:39 - Social Justice and Community Engagement through Shoes and Art20:16 - Shoes Have Names: Jo Cope x Shelter27:22 - Exploring Femininity and Feminism through Shoes32:27 - The Colour Red and Taking up Space34:54 - Movement and Performance in Shoe Design37:11 - Transformative Experiences Through Shoes40:03 - Collectivism and Connection Through Interactive Art41:45 - Social Connection and Authentic Storytelling45:47 - Hand Craft vs. Digital Technology in Shoe Making50:32 - The Importance of Reflection in Creative Practice52:53 - Teaching Ethical Social Practice56:42 - Social Practice as Collaborative Learning58:35 - Future Plans and the Creative Process01:00:51 - Conclusionwww.footwearresearchnetwork.org

    1h 2m
  8. 1. Bespoke Insights with Gabriele Gmeiner

    12/24/2025

    1. Bespoke Insights with Gabriele Gmeiner

    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 intro01:00 - Episode Overview03:19 - Journey to Bespoke Shoemaking08:16 - Craftsmanship and Materiality10:47 - The Story Behind Each Shoe16:44 - Understanding the Customer's Needs19:05 - The Value of Bespoke Shoes27:25 - The Future of Shoemaking32:10 - Cultural Identity and Craftsmanship37:00 - Walking in Venice: A Unique Experience42:52 - Outro and Acknowledgement of Countrywww.footwearresearchnetwork.org

    44 min

  9. Season 1 Trailer

    Trailer - The Social Lives of Shoes - A Podcast by the Footwear Research Network

    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

    2 min

Trailer

About

What if shoes could speak? The Social Lives of Shoes explores one of the most underestimated aspects of consumer culture through conversations with the people who design, make, study, and wear footwear. Hosts Dr. Alexandra Sherlock and Dr. Emily Brayshaw uncover how shoes reflect our values, impact our world, and offer possibilities for more sustainable futures.

Information

  • Creator
    Footwear Research Network
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Footwear Research Network
  • Show Website
    The Social Lives of Shoes