Michael Allton

AFTER THE FAIRYTALE: revelation of truth through the art/artefact of bespoke shoemaking

Interview Presentation – 23rd May 2018

 What are the problems/questions you will address with your research:

Current study of shoes appear to position shoes as transformative objects/experience, but is this too or away from self?
Do bespoke shoes narrate fantasy or communicate a greater sense of truthful reality?
As the contemporary interpretation of identity resonates as an urgent issue, does the artefact created within the bespoke shoemaking
cycle create a more truthful or alternative vision of self?
Is this transformation consistent across a range of subjects, or personal and unique from person to person?
Does the art/artefact of bespoke shoes have a relevance in the contemporary fashion or cultural landscape?
Why is this research important now?

The shoe is emerging as

art/artefact with relevance
outside of mainstream fashion,
holding narrative qualities that
resonate across a fashion and
cultural spectrum. Now feels a
relevant moment to explore
shoes as a medium to question
and communicate truths and
to broaden the discussion
beyond the traditional borders
of fashion.

• Paul Chan; interconnective

objects/threads of narrative

• Allora and Caldazilla; shoe lace bound

into written narrative

• Sophie Calle; the shoe as a

memory/souvenir of an event
Why is this research important now?

The GINA factory is the last luxury manufacturer of women’s shoes in

London, possibly the UK. British luxury manufacturing is under threat, and
the window for creation of ‘shoes as art/artefact’ executed in the United
Kingdom at world-class standard is limited, possibly closing.

This adds a sense of urgency to producing curated and archived bespoke

art/artefact whilst these facilities are available.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to find craftsmen with traditional skills.

The people who hold these talents are near or working past retirement,
adding a sense of urgency to make the most of their talents whilst they are
present in the United Kingdom.

The availability of these facilities combined with my unique position within

GINA allows me to pursue this research with a significant support network.
Without these world-class facilities and free use of skilled labour, the
financial burden and practicalities of undertaking a project of this level might
otherwise be impossible or highly restrictive to the outcome.

With limited commercial viability, I am uniquely placed to pursue this study.

 Why is this research important now?

‘Luxury’ footwear is becoming increasingly globalised, diluted

and commercialised. The need/relevance of shoes as
art/artefact is under threat. It’s ‘purpose’ is of questionable
commercial use, limiting the opportunity (and possibly urge) to
produce work of this level.

Here are recent examples of my work that have urged me to

consider the purpose and relevance of the shoe as art/artefact:

1: Cut from a late 19th Century blanket, with a 1970/2010s

silhouette, this is a unique art/artefact, with a narrative
spanning approximately 150 years. It cannot be authentically
replicated.

2: With 18,000 crystal and pearls and a retail price of £10,000

this is an object of decadence, for the most part commercially
unviable. As stylist Nick Cox quoted ‘…it will still be here when
we are not’.

1 2
 Why is this research important now?

The bespoke shoe has been historically curated in binary male/female categorization. With the emergence of
gender fluidity and blurred boundaries, here feels an exciting and urgent opportunity to explore and document
the narratives within this moment that can be communicated by bespoke shoes, to create a curated and
archived body of work that references this significant transitional moment.

• GINA x Matty Bovan Collaboration

A current collaboration between GINA and non-binary fashion brand Art School London is at the forefront of
the presentation and retail of footwear as a narrative artefact of truthful representation of identity.

Naturally, as GINA is a manufacturer of women’s footwear, a restriction or constraint of this research is that it
will be feminine by proxy.
  If your research involves the creation of artworks or designs, tell us how these will help you address these
research questions

My vision is of research by practice, exploring and identifying the truths and realities that emerge from the creative
process and art/artefacts resulting from bespoke shoemaking . Shoe art/artefacts produced with a number of people,
through iterative process will aim to identify common threads, moments of phenomena and reveal material, emotional
and potentially social truths.

The creation of bespoke shoes will serve two primary purposes:

• Firstly, it is to produce a collection of art/artfacts of significant creative and aesthetic value, resulting in a body of
work that is of fresh contribution and value to the curated history of (British) bespoke footwear.

• Subsequently, with the existence of the resulting art/artefacts, the iterative processes of conception and creation,
and the emotional/performative reaction to the objects post-creation can be documented, analysed and archived in
both textual and visual form. This will form the body of research to address the problems/questions this research
originally aims to address:

Current study of shoes appear to position shoes as transformative objects/experience, but is this too or away from self?
Do bespoke shoes narrate fantasy or communicate a greater sense of truthful reality?
As the contemporary interpretation of identity resonates as an urgent issue, does the artefact created within the bespoke shoemaking cycle create a more truthful or alternative vision of self?
Is this transformation consistent across a range of subjects, or personal and unique from person to person?
Does the art/artefact of bespoke shoes have a relevance in the contemporary fashion or cultural landscape?