• Wiener Schuhmuseum, Vienna, Austria.

  The Vienna Schuhmuseum (Shoe Museum), opened in 2002, showcases the art of hand-made shoes. The museum, converted from the guild's former conference rooms, covers 100 square metres and is the only one of its kind in Austria. With meticulous attention to detail, it presents the evolution of shoemaking and orthopaedic shoemaking through the ages, reflecting the growing interest in this craft over the past decade.

• Eperon d'Or, Izegem, Belgium.

  Izegem, known as the Belgian shoe city, owes its wealth to the shoe industry. The 'Chaussure d'Iseghem' stamp was a sought-after quality mark. Eperon d'Or museum showcases the industry's history, displaying masterpieces like King William I's boots and items from the Eperon d'Or line. Visitors can see a 1950s shoe production line and learn about different leathers. The museum also highlights the transition from manual labour to mechanisation, and shares stories of workers and factory life.

• Shoes Or No Shoes? (SONS), Kruisem, Belgium.

  SONS Museum offers a unique exploration of footwear, spanning ethnic cultures, peoples, and modern art. Thanks to Dirk Vanderschueren, the museum houses two unique collections: over 1300 works of art created by contemporary artists using their working shoes, and the world's largest ethnographic collection of over 2700 pairs of shoes, each showcasing unique craftsmanship. The museum, set in a stunning architectural building, offers visitors a sensational experience.

• Museu Birigui, Birigui, Brasil.

  The virtual footwear museum in Birigui, the Brazilian Capital of Children's Footwear, celebrates the city's 50-year history in the footwear industry. The museum aims to preserve and share the industry's history, highlighting the city's development and the people who contributed to its growth. It showcases the craft of footwear making, the determination of its makers, and their achievements. The museum also honours Birigui's status as the country's largest children's footwear industry, responsible for over half of the sector's production.

• Museu Nacional do Calçado (MNC) – National Footwear Museum, Novo Hamburgo, Brasil.

  The National Footwear Museum (MNC) in Novo Hamburgo, Brazil, established in 1998, is a cultural, educational, and research venue dedicated to the footwear industry. Its collection features rare pieces from different eras and continents, presented through temporary and permanent exhibitions. The museum, which is non-religious and non-political, aims to preserve the memory of the leather-footwear sector and its culture. It hosts exhibitions, meetings, courses, seminars, and lectures to fulfil its social, cultural, and educational role.

• Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Canada.

  The Bata Shoe Museum regularly displays over a thousand shoes and related artefacts, chosen from a collection of nearly 15,000 objects, in architect Raymond Moriyama’s iconic, award-winning building. The BSM celebrates the style, development and function of footwear with displays ranging from Chinese bound-foot shoes and ancient Egyptian sandals to chestnut-crushing clogs and glamorous platforms. Over 4,500 years of history are reflected in a permanent exhibition, All About Shoes, while the three other galleries feature changing exhibitions.

• Bai Li Tang Ancient Shoes Museum, Bailitang, China.

• Huaxia Shoe Culture Museum, Tianjin, China.

  Huaxia Shoe Culture Museum showcases footwear throughout history, from ancient times to the Shang and Zhou Dynasties to the Three Kingdoms to the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties. There are ancient relics as well as replicas. The museum presents thousands of years of footwear history in an easy-to-grasp format. The exhibition content is divided into footwear historical development, footwear culture, folk footwear, foot binding, special exhibition, footwear craftsmanship, etc.

• Obuvnické museum – Zlín Shoe Museum, Zlín, Czech Republic.

  The Museum in Zlín, Czech Republic, located in the former Bata shoemaking factory, offers a unique insight into the city's transformation from a small village to a modern city, driven by the Bata Company. The museum features three main themes: the history of the Bata Company and a shoe museum with 600 items of historical and exotic footwear, the history of Zlín's movie studio, and a section dedicated to legendary Czechoslovak travellers. The interactive exhibition includes shoe-machines, airplanes, and vintage Bata commercials.

• Le Musée de la Chaussure, Romans-sur-Isère, France.

  The museum invites you on a journey to discover the world of this timeless, universal object – the shoe. Its collection is kept in a prestigious setting, the former ‘Convent of the Visitation’, allowing it to display shoes in all its forms, from the oldest to the most contemporary and the most classical to the most extravagant or exotic. Situated in Romans, a town that owes its renown to leatherworking and shoemaking, the international Museum is both a place of endless inspiration for professionals and an exceptional showcase for the famous boot and shoemakers of yesterday and today.

• Deutsches Ledermuseum, Offenbach, Germany.

  The Deutsches Ledermuseum, or German Leather Museum, houses an extensive collection of over 30,000 objects, showcasing the diverse uses of leather across different eras and cultures. A key highlight is its high-calibre shoe collection, which comprises more than 10,000 exhibits, not only made from leather but also from alternative materials. This collection traces the development and significance of footwear over four millennia, featuring creations by renowned designers and culturally significant pieces. The museum also includes a comprehensive bag and purse collection, and various other leather-related items.

• Deutsches Schuhmuseum Hauenstein, German Shoe Museum, Hauenstein, Germany.

  The German Shoe Museum, showcases the cultural heritage of shoes. The permanent exhibition explores shoe history, manufacturing, trading, advertising, and the role of shoes as fashion statements. The museum houses over 4,000 pairs of shoes from the "Salamander" shoe factory, it also addresses the darker aspects of the shoe industry with a section dedicated to the history of the ROMIKA company. A notable exhibit is the world's largest shoe, a 7.14m long, 4.20m high shoe weighing around 1500kg. The museum also displays a variety of advertising signs from the shoe industry.

• Gabor Shoe Museum, Rosenheim, Germany.

  The Gabor company presents a unique exhibition in an architecturally sophisticated pavilion, showcasing fashionable shoe highlights from its inception to the present. The display, spread over 100 square metres, intertwines company history, products, and global events, placing shoes in their historical context. Visitors can explore various themes, such as the music of the 50s or the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the corresponding footwear trends of those times, in a playful and engaging manner.

• Kleve Schuhmuseum, Kleve Shoe Museum, Kleve, Germany.

  The Gustav-Hoffmann shoe factory in Kleve, now a museum, showcases the evolution of shoemaking, from the work of the "Schluffenschuster" (shoemaker) to industrial production. The city's shoemaking history, dating back to 1848, saw the rise of 80 small to medium-sized factories by the end of the 19th century. Despite economic crises and World War II devastation, the industry persisted, peaking at 21 factories post-war. However, by 1986, only five remained. The closure of the last major factory in the early 21st century marked the end of Kleve's shoemaking era, giving rise to the museum. The website offers a virtual tour of the museum.

• Museum Altes Rathaus – Old Town Hall Museum, Pirmasens, Germany.

  The museum features the history of shoe production, which for a long time determined the economic success of the city. In the 1960s, every third shoe in Germany came from the Pirmasen shoe factories. One of the largest shoe collections in Germany with shoes from all over the world: Indian moccasins, Egyptian sandals, Dutch wooden clogs and the stilt shoes of Japanese geishas.

• Richard Fenchels Miniatur-Schuhmuseum / Museum Butzbach, Butzbach, Germany.

  Butzbach Museum houses the “world’s largest collection of shoe miniatures” belonging to the married couple Richard and Emilie Fenchel. This found its way into the Guinness Book of Records as the largest of its kind.

• Schuhhaus Pflanz, Historical Shoe Museum, Landsberg am Lech, Germany.

  Opened in 1995 by Heinrich Plant, the Historical Shoe Museum in Landsberg showcases eight centuries of shoe fashion. The collection includes traditional global footwear, Oriental gold-embroidered shoes, Chinese gin-lin shoes for bound feet, and shoes made from diverse materials like seagrass, straw, and car tyres. It also houses footwear of notable figures like King Ludwig II and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. The museum features the world's largest shoehorn collection, recognised by the Guinness Book of Records.

• Schuhmuseum at Weissenfels Museum in Neu-Augustusburg Castle, Weißenfels, Germany.

  The Weißenfels Museum in Neu-Augustusburg Castle now houses an exhibition on the Duchy of Saxony-Weißenfels and the history of the city. The largest shoe museum in the new federal states is also located here with shoes from all over the world and prominent personalities. The castle church with the Förner organ as well as constantly changing special exhibitions can be visited during the museum's opening hours.

• UNESCO World Heritage Fagus Factory, Alfeld, Germany.

  The Fagus Factory, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Germany, is a pioneering example of modern industrial architecture. Built in 1911 by architect and Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, the factory is renowned for its innovative use of glass and steel. The factory, named after the Latin term for 'beech', has been producing shoe lasts from beech wood for over 100 years. The factory houses a museum with 3000 m² of exhibition space across five floors, showcasing the company's history, architecture, and a century of shoe fashion.

• Doucal’s Il museo della calzatura, Montegranaro, Italy.

  To celebrate Doucal’s 40th anniversary in 2013, the Giannini family built an archive wing in the original factory. This museum-like collection displays 3,000 pairs of shoes, sketches, notes, and feasibility studies. The company has meticulously curated a 40-year manufacturing retrospective, with items chronologically ordered. It stands as one of the few Italian archives dedicated to the history of contemporary men's footwear.

• Museo della Calzatura Cav. Vincenzo Andolfi - “Cav. Vincenzo Andolfi” Footwear Museum, Sant'Elpidio a Mare, Italy

  The “Cav. Vincenzo Andolfi” museum, established in 1998, showcases the evolution of footwear and the knowledge and processes behind quality shoemaking. The museum houses thousands of items, including shoes, lasts, and manufacturing tools, displayed in three sections. The first section documents the history of footwear with examples from various eras, ranging from Roman times to the twentieth century. The second section features shoes of famous religious, sports, and entertainment figures. The third section preserves a replica of an artisan workshop and award-winning innovative footwear prototypes.

• Museo della Fondazione Sportsystem - The Sportsystem Foundation, Montebelluna, Italy.

  Fondazione Sportsystem ETS, a non-profit, manages the heritage of the Sportsystem District, an area of approximately 355 square kilometres known for its specialised sporting footwear, clothing, and equipment manufacturing. The foundation, formed from the merger of Fondazione Museo dello Scarpone and Associazione dello Sportsystem, promotes growth, renewal, and sustainable development in the area. It collaborates with various institutions and manages the Sportsystem Foundation Museum, showcasing the district's footwear manufacturing. The museum, founded in 1984, houses around 400 exhibits, including historical footwear and prototypes, and supports educational initiatives promoting inclusion and respect.

• Museo Internazionale della Calzatura Pietro Bertolini - The Pietro Bertolini International Footwear Museum, Vigevano, Italy.

  The Pietro Bertolini International Footwear Museum in Vigevano, Italy, is the first public institution in Italy dedicated to the history of the shoe. The museum was stablished in 1958, following a donation by industrialist Pietro Bertolini. Initially housed in Palazzo Crespi, the museum moved to Sforzesco Castle in 2003. The collection, which began in 1930, has grown through donations and acquisitions, and includes historical footwear, documents, and memorabilia. The museum has been transformed into a dynamic and international institution, with exhibitions curated by prominent figures from the world of footwear fashion.

• Museo Salvatore Ferragamo - Salvatore Ferragamo Museum, Firenze, Italy.

  The Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, established by the Ferragamo family in May 1995, honours Salvatore Ferragamo's significant influence on footwear and international fashion. Originally a travelling exhibition, it became a permanent fixture, hosting a variety of exhibitions that delve into design, fashion, and communication as means of expressing a lifestyle and dressing style. In 1999, the museum was awarded the Guggenheim Impresa e Cultura Award for its cultural contributions. Since 2006, it has adopted a dynamic exhibition structure, exploring different themes annually. In 2015, it became Italy's first green corporate museum, and in 2016, it joined the International Council of Museums.

• Villa Foscarini Rossi Footwear Museum, Stra, Venice, Italy.

  The Footwear Museum at Villa Foscarini Rossi houses over 1500 models of luxury women's footwear produced by Rossimoda over seventy years, showcasing collaborations with prestigious fashion brands. Inaugurated in 1995 by Luigino Rossi, the museum is located in Stra, between Padua and Venice, and also features a small collection of 18th and 19th-century Venetian footwear. The museum documents the evolution of fashion and the footwear tradition of the Brenta Riviera, and hosts various events including exhibitions, concerts, and guided tours.

• Matsunaga Footwear Museum, Fukuyama City, Japan.

  The Matsunaga Footwear Museum houses and exhibits approximately 1300 items of footwear and many of the materials related to the production of clogs, grass, and salt that supported the industry in the Matsunaga region, including valuable materials inherited from the Japan Kimono Museum and the Japan Folk Toy Museum. The museum continues to operate the facility to contribute to community development that makes the best use of local resources while inheriting the history and culture of the region.

• Museo del Calzado El Borceguí, El Borceguí Footwear Museum, Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City

  Situated in Mexico City's Historic Centre, this unique Latin American footwear museum, founded in 1991, displays 2,000 pieces of natural footwear and 15,000 miniatures crafted from diverse materials such as glass, leather, ceramic, porcelain, plastic, and wood. The museum is divided into five sections: historical shoes, 20th-century shoes, sports shoes, shoes from children's literature, and shoes belonging to famous Mexicans. It provides a comprehensive overview of the history of footwear in world cultures.

• Internationaal Klompenmuseum, International Clog Museum, Eelde, Netherlands.

  The Clog Museum Gebr. Wietzes in Eelde, named after clog makers Eiso and Egbert Wietzes, houses an extensive collection of clogs and clog-making tools. Opened in 1990, the museum manages around 600 pairs of clogs from the Wietzes brothers and a collection from Mr. HP Bongers. Expanded over the years, it now holds over 2,400 pairs of clogs from 43 countries, making it the largest collection in Europe. The museum, run by approximately 60 volunteers, also includes archive materials and machinery related to clog-making.

• De Zaanse Schans Wooden Shoe Museum, Zaandam, The Netherlands.

  In 1974, Jaap & Ineke Kooijman established a clog factory in Zaanse Schans to preserve the Dutch craft of clog making. Housed in an 18th-century warehouse, the family business, now in its third generation, has become a global name, attracting over a million visitors annually. Despite the decline in clog makers, the Kooijmans saved old clog machines and passed on the craft to a new generation. The factory offers free demonstrations in eleven languages. The Kooijmans have also amassed one of the largest collections of Dutch clogs, displayed in their museum.

• Schoenenkwartier - Shoe Quarter, Waalwijk, Netherlands.

  The Shoe Quarter brings to life the rich history of the shoe and leather industry, promoting participation and awareness. It aims to introduce new audiences to the cultural significance of footwear and encourages visitors to think about the origins and production of shoes. Founded on Anthony Hendriks' extensive collection, including global and historical footwear, the museum now boasts over 20,000 objects, highlighting designs from renowned names and the evolution of sneakers and designer shoes.

• The Virtual Shoe Museum, The Hague, Netherlands.

  Liza Snook, a shoe curator, collector, and connector, has been amassing shoe-related items since her graphic design study at the Royal Academy in The Hague in the 1980s. In 2004, she launched VirtualShoeMuseum.com with partner Taco Zwaanswijk to share her passion. Over the past 15 years, Liza has curated and organised global shoe exhibitions in art and design, collaborating with various museums and events. She has also extended her passion to hats, bags, and denim exhibitions. Additionally, Liza works as an image researcher, design school judge, lecturer, and mentor for young designers.

Museo del Calzado de Trujillo, Trujillo Footwear Museum, El Porvenir, Trujillo, Peru.

• Marikina Shoe Museum, Marikina City, Philippines

  The Marikina Shoe Museum in the Philippines houses a significant part of Imelda Marcos' infamous shoe collection. Marcos, known as the Iron Butterfly, and her husband Ferdinand Marcos ruled the Philippines from the mid-1960s until 1986. Her extravagant shoe collection became a symbol of their regime's corruption. Marikina, the shoe capital of the Philippines, also holds the Guinness Record for the World's Largest Pair of Shoes. The museum displays 749 pairs from Marcos' personal collection.

• Museu do Calçado - Shoe Museum, São João da Madeira, Portugal

  The Shoe Museum in S. João da Madeira, Portugal, showcases the town's rich history in shoe production and design. It presents stories of lives dedicated to shoes and the impact of shoes on those lives. The museum, an innovative addition to the national museum scene, portrays the shoe industry's history in S. João da Madeira and the reality of shoe design in Portugal in the 20th century, while also exploring the technological and creative advancements of the 21st century.

• First Russian Shoe Museum - Первый Российский Музей Обуви, Moscow, Russia.

  Shoe-Icons Publishing, established in 2003, specialises in publishing books on footwear history and design, including photo albums, calendars, and catalogues. One of their key projects is the establishment of a shoe museum in Moscow, where they organise exhibitions of historical and designer shoes. Their goal is to present footwear not just as historical artefacts, but as significant elements of costume that reflect social, economic, and psychological realities throughout human cultural evolution. The museum is currently online only.

• Stellenbosch Shoe Museum, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

  The Shoe Museum in Stellenbosch, South Africa, traces the history of the Lubbe family's shoe business, which began as a bridle and shoe repair shop in 1918. The business evolved into a shoe factory in the 1940s, marking the start of mass production and mechanisation. Despite economic challenges in the late 70s and 80s, the company successfully transitioned to manufacturing speciality shoes, such as the "Trailbuster" hiking boots. The museum celebrates this journey from repair shop to niche market manufacturer.

• Museo de Calzado Basilio García, Basilio García Footwear Museum, Arnedo, Spain.

  Located adjacent to the Callaghan factory in Arnedo, the Basilio García Museum offers a captivating exploration of footwear history, from 3rd century BC shoes to modern designs. The museum harmoniously blends tradition, showcasing original shoe-making tools and manual processes, with contemporary footwear technologies. Visitors can also trace the evolution of the Callaghan and Gorila brands through their most iconic shoes.

• Museo del Calzado de Brea, en Aragón, The Brea Footwear Museum, in Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain.

  The Brea de Aragón Footwear Museum in Zaragoza is a 600 square metre space dedicated to the history, traditions, and industry of footwear, from the Celtiberian era to the present. The museum features engaging multimedia and interactive exhibits, including audiovisual systems, virtual images, and machines, making the visit enjoyable for both adults and children. It also includes a shop selling local footwear. The museum aims to promote the town's significant footwear industry and its quality products, offering a one-hour tour that reflects the area's innovative and quality-driven footwear sector.

• Museo del Calzado Jose María Amat Amer, Elda, Alicante, Spain

  The "José María Amat Amer" Footwear Museum in Elda offers a cultural and educational journey through the footwear sector's influence on the Middle Vinalopó region's industrial history. The museum, born from decades of dedication, preserves the trade's arts, history, and culture. It boasts an extensive collection of shoes, machinery, infographics, and a library, reflecting Elda's invaluable shoemaking tradition, renowned nationally and internationally.

• Museo de Calzados Segarra, Segarra Footwear Museum, La Vall d´Uixó, Spain.

  Visit the Museum in La Vall d'Uixó, Castellón, to explore the history of Calzados Segarra, Spain's oldest shoe factory. The museum offers guided tours detailing the brand's evolution, from its humble beginnings in a small Castellón town to its current presence in six European countries. Learn about Segarra's impact on La Vall d'Uixó, as it grew from manufacturing espadrilles to a range of products, becoming the town's economic engine and Spain's largest shoe factory by 1930.

• Museo del Calzado Selva, Selva Footwear Museum, Selva, Spain.

  Footwear and Period Machinery in Selva showcases the town's centuries-old shoemaking tradition. Housed in a prestigious shoe factory built in 1978, the museum features pieces from the origins of Mallorcan footwear industrialisation and a chronological footwear exhibition from 1927 to the present. The collection includes enduring pieces that have withstood intensive use and time. The museum also features a tribute sculpture to footwear sector workers by local artist Joan Lacomba.

• Museo del Calzado Vibot, Vibot Footwear Museum, Valladolid, Spain.

  Located on Calle La Rúa, the main artery of Villalón de Campos, the Vibot Footwear Museum collects the work of the Vibot family, engaged in the manufacture of footwear for 200 years.

• Museu del Calçat i de la Indústria – Museum of Footwear and Industry, Inca, Mallorca, Spain.

  The Museum of Footwear and Industry in Mallorca traces the history of the shoe and its auxiliary industries from the 13th century to the present. Reopened in 2018, it houses a collection of machines, tools, shoes, drawings, documents, and photographs donated by local companies and individuals. The museum, located in the former Army Infantry barracks, underwent a community-led redesign based on audience surveys and local contributions. It aims to honour the region's industrial history and the future of the footwear sector.

• Svenska Skoindustrimuseet – The Swedish Shoe Industry Museum, Kumla, Sweden.

  The Swedish Shoe Industry Museum was inaugurated in 1986 and is the only shoe industry museum in northern Europe with the manufacture of shoes. The museum is housed in a three-story building. On the first floor, exhibitions about the development of the shoe industry and Swedish shoe fashion from 1890 to 1980 are shown. On the second and third floors, the shoe factory Bengtar shoes has been preserved, where a needlewoman and a shoemaker work daily manufacturing slippers, lace-up shoes and desert boots.

• Ballyana Sammlung Industriekultur, Schönenwerd, Switzerland.

  Ballyana is a comprehensive archive in Schönenwerd, Switzerland, dedicated to preserving the industrial history of the Bally shoe factories. For nearly 200 years, Bally has significantly influenced the region, leaving a rich legacy of documents, images, photographs, advertising items, and products. The archive houses a unique shoe collection, machines, and an extensive wealth of documents, making it one of the most complete industrial history documentations in Switzerland.

• Musée de la Chaussure, Shoe Museum Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.

  The museum, a tribute to the neighbourhood's vanished leather industry, showcases the evolution of European footwear over centuries, with over 400 objects including ancient shoe reconstructions and related items like leather cases and tools. The collection, based on archaeological studies, offers a free tour of footwear's 5,000-year history, presented by experts. Visitors value the opportunity to personally explore this carefully curated heritage collection, assembled over 25 years.

• Northampton Museum & Art Gallery, Northampton, UK.

  The Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, home to one of the world's largest shoe collections, is recognised by Arts Council England for its local, national, and international importance. The collection spans from ancient Egypt to modern fashion, featuring Northamptonshire-made shoes and footwear from around the globe. Established in 1865, the museum began receiving shoe donations within three years, with the first being women's slip-on shoes from India. The collection continues to grow, showcasing the rich heritage of footwear.

• Norfolk Museums Collections, Kings Lynn and Norwich, United Kingdom.

  Explore the history of footwear through the collections at Lynn Museum and Norwich Costume and Textiles.

• Shoemakers Museum, Street, United Kingdom.

  The Alfred Gillett Trust, which owns the heritage collections of C & J Clark, plans to open a footwear museum and archive at the Grange in Street, Somerset by 2025. The project, supported by donations and other trusts, will transform the Grade II Listed site into a visitor attraction featuring an education space, a café, and a shop. The Trust has appointed award-winning architects, Purcell, and other consultants to redevelop the site and create engaging exhibition spaces. The museum will house three galleries: Welcome to Street, Making Shoes, and Buying and Selling.

• V&A South Kensington, London, United Kingdom

  The Victoria and Albert Museum has an unrivalled collection of shoes, with around 2,000 pairs spanning more than 3,000 years of history from different cultures around the globe. From hemp shoes found on the ancient Silk Road from the 1st Century BC to Venetian platform shoes typical of the 16th century, shoe design and construction reveals remarkable inventiveness. The breadth of the collection shows the chronological progression of shoe height, heel shape and materials, exposing just how many styles we consider to be modern have been in and out of fashion across the centuries.

• Brockton Shoe Museum, Easton, Massachusetts, USA.

  The Brockton Shoe Museum, established in 1981, is dedicated to preserving and promoting the history of the US shoe industry, particularly in Brockton and Southeastern Massachusetts. Its collections, which include over 500 different shoes and industry-related records and publications, were transferred to Stonehill's care in 2012 for ongoing preservation. The Brockton Historical Society retains the museum's name and shoe displays.

• Giant Shoe Museum, Seattle, Washington State, USA.

  The Giant Shoe Museum at Pike Place Market showcases Danny Eskenazi's collection of oversized footwear. Inspired by his grandfather's ownership of a shoe worn by Robert Wadlow, the world's tallest man, Eskenazi's search for this lost shoe led to the discovery of other giant shoes now displayed in the museum. Visitors can view these shoes through stereoscope-style slots.

• Smithsonian, Washington DC, USA.

  The Smithsonian museums are home to many fabulous pairs of shoes, all of which are viewable on the Smithsonian website. The most notable pair is perhaps Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers, available to view at the National Museum of American History.

• The Museum at FIT, New York, USA.

  Renowned for its innovative and award-winning exhibitions, this museum boasts a permanent collection of over 50,000 garments and accessories from the 18th century to the present. The footwear collection, comprising over 4,000 pairs of shoes, boots, and sandals, features designs by notable designers like Manolo Blahnik, Roger Vivier, Herbert Levine, and Salvatore Ferragamo.

• The Noel Shoe Museum, New York, USA.

  Founded by shoe designer Vanessa Noel, the Noel Shoe Museum, located in New York City, will celebrate the creativity of footwear throughout history. The museum plans to showcase collaborations in fashion, art, and footwear culture, focusing on design, designers, history, and manufacturing. It intends to offer immersive, interactive exhibitions alongside a permanent collection, aiming to be accessible both nationally and internationally. As a future 501(c)(3) non-profit, the museum also aims to provide research, training, and educational opportunities, and will rely on donations for support.

• The Shoe Museum at the Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine, Philadelphia, USA.

  The Shoe Museum at the Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine in Philadelphia offers self-guided tours of its 14 exhibits, showcasing approximately 1000 shoes. Open weekdays from 9am-5pm, visitors can book online and use QR codes for supplemental audio descriptions. Tours typically take about 30 minutes. The museum, located within an active medical school, requests visitors to respect its students, staff, and faculty, and to stay within designated museum areas. Admission is free.

• Miami Shoe Museum (MSM), Miami, Florida, USA.

  The Miami Shoe Museum (MSM) is a virtual resource dedicated to preserving the rich artistic and cultural heritage of footwear. Founded by Luis Valenzuela in 2022, the museum hosts over 800 shoes and related objects, providing invaluable information for historical research. The collection reflects changes in personal taste, style, technological development, societal mindsets, and standards. It includes works from renowned designers like Roger Vivier, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Manolo Blahnik, challenging traditional footwear concepts and forms.

• The Virtual Shoe Museum, Netherlands.

  Liza Snook, a shoe curator, collector, and connector, has been amassing shoe-related items since her graphic design study at the Royal Academy in The Hague in the 1980s. In 2004, she launched VirtualShoeMuseum.com with partner Taco Zwaanswijk to share her passion. Over the past 15 years, Liza has curated and organised global shoe exhibitions in art and design, collaborating with various museums and events. She has also extended her passion to hats, bags, and denim exhibitions. Additionally, Liza works as an image researcher, design school judge, lecturer, and mentor for young designers.

• First Russian Shoe Museum - Первый Российский Музей Обуви, Moscow, Russia.

  Shoe-Icons Publishing, established in 2003, specialises in publishing books on footwear history and design, including photo albums, calendars, and catalogues. One of their key projects is the establishment of a shoe museum in Moscow, where they organise exhibitions of historical and designer shoes. Their goal is to present footwear not just as historical artefacts, but as significant elements of costume that reflect social, economic, and psychological realities throughout human cultural evolution. The museum is currently online only.

• Miami Shoe Museum (MSM), Miami, Florida, USA.

  The Miami Shoe Museum (MSM) is a virtual resource dedicated to preserving the rich artistic and cultural heritage of footwear. Founded by Luis Valenzuela in 2022, the museum hosts over 800 shoes and related objects, providing invaluable information for historical research. The collection reflects changes in personal taste, style, technological development, societal mindsets, and standards. It includes works from renowned designers like Roger Vivier, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Manolo Blahnik, challenging traditional footwear concepts and forms.