The Social Lives of Shoes

9. Death and shoes: dressing the dead, decomposition and material afterlives with Dr Pia Interlandi

OVERVIEW Why do we dress the dead, and why do we so often insist on shoes for bodies that will never walk again? In this episode of The Social Lives of Shoes, Dr Alexandra Sherlock speaks with Dr Pia Interlandi, Associate Professor at Curtin University and founder of Garments for the Grave, whose practice interlaces fashion, funerals and forensics. Together they explore what dressing the dead, natural burial, and Pia's pioneering research into textile decomposition, from The Pig Project to alkaline hydrolysis experiments on Ugg boots, Adidas Superstars and Clarks school shoes, can teach us about material life cycles, circularity and the ends of shoes' lives. Content note: This episode contains detailed discussion of death, dying and dressing the dead, and mentions cancer treatment and animal use in research. If this episode brings anything up for you, please visit https://findahelpline.com [https://findahelpline.com] for grief and crisis support local to you. CREDITS: Guest: Dr Pia Interlandi Presenters: Dr Alexandra Sherlock & Dr Emily Brayshaw Produced and edited by: Dr Alexandra Sherlock Published by the Footwear Research Network CHAPTERS: 1. [01:07] Episode 9 Introduction and Content Note 2. [06:51] Meet Associate Professor Pia Interlandi 3. [09:37] Fashion and Death as Sisters 4. [14:27] Garments for the Grave — Dressing the Dead as Ritual 5. [18:12] The Denial of Death — Becker, Capitalism and Legacy 6. [26:40] "Why Are We Putting Him in Shoes?" — Dressing Nonno and Nonna 7. [35:06] Mummified Feet, Personhood and Planning a Good Death 8. [41:19] Pointe Shoes — Linda Nurk, Rachel and What We Take to the Grave 9. [46:51] The Pig Project — Decomposition, Data and Disgust 10. [1:01:26] What Happened to the Fibres — Protein, Plant and Plastic 11. [1:09:44] Alkaline Hydrolysis — An Alternative End for Bodies 12. [1:12:22] Dissolving Shoes — Uggs, Superstars and School Shoes 13. [1:17:52] Debrief — Transformation, Cinderella and a Pair of Crocs 14. [1:21:54] Debrief — Surrogate Bodies, Disgust and Pia's Ongoing Work 15. [1:28:11] Bonus Story — The Lynx Effect Full transcript, images and links at www.footwearresearchnetwork.org/podcast/shoes-and-death-with-pia-interlandi  www.footwearresearchnetwork.org [https://footwearresearchnetwork.org/]

An Announcement from the Footwear Research Network

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 the footwear industry, and help write the next chapter together. More information at: https://footwearresearchnetwork.org/articles/the-footwear-research-network-is-registering-to-become-a-non-profit-social-enterprise Donate now via GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/93cd1aebf www.footwearresearchnetwork.org [https://footwearresearchnetwork.org/]

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: 1. [00:58] Episode 8 Introduction 2. [02:27] Emotionally Durable Design and Jonathan Chapman 3. [07:48] Attachment and Shoes — The Palimpsest 4. [16:57] The Pros and Cons of Durability 5. [25.05] The Concept of Cleaving — Attachment and Detachment 6. [27:59] Fetishising Shoes - Meaning and Metaphor 7. [30:16] This Is Not a Shoe — Detachment Through Deconstruction 8. [34:12] Divestment Strategies and Managed Letting Go 9. [37:09] Ongoingness, Narrative, and Resale Platforms 10. [48:42] Circularity, Loss, and Material Life Cycles       11. [50:28] Resources and What's Coming Next 12. [52:21] Key Takeaways — Emily and Alex Reflect Transcript links and show notes at www.footwearresearchnetwork.org  [http://www.footwearresearchnetwork.org] www.footwearresearchnetwork.org [https://footwearresearchnetwork.org/]

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 Brayshaw * Edited and produced by: Dr Alexandra Sherlock * Photographs and images: Credits in captions  Chapters: 1. [00:00] - Show Intro 2. [00:47] - Acknowledgements and Corrections 3. [05:22] - Vietnam and IFFTI: Cultural Connections for Sustainable Fashion Futures - Rebuild, Renew and Regenerate 4. [08:23] - Footwear: The Blind Spot in Fashion Research  5. [14:41] - School Uniforms and Permaculture 6. [20:31] - School Uniforms, Government Funding and Repair Economies 7. [25:55] - Inside a Vietnamese Shoe Factory 8. [31:12] - Digital Product Passports, Blockchain and Storytelling 9. [36:43] - Taming, Rewilding and the Capitalist Co-Option Problem 10. [40:30] - Boro, Kintsugi and the Repair as Ritual 11. [51:13] - Waste Not Want Not 12. [56:01] - The Evolving Role of Higher Education 13. [59:13] - Culture as the Fourth Pillar of Sustainability All links, images and verified transcripts at the Footwear Research Network www.footwearresearchnetwork.org [https://footwearresearchnetwork.org/]

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 Davidson * Interviewer: Dr Emily Brayshaw * Presenters: Dr Alexandra Sherlock and Dr Emily Brayshaw * Edited and produced by: Dr Alexandra Sherlock * Photographs 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 [https://footwearresearchnetwork.org/]