THE HISTORY BENEATH THE SNEAKER
FROM THE FIRST WRAPPED HIDES 40,000 YEARS AGO TO THE LUXURY HANDMADE SNEAKER: WHAT FOOTWEAR HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT
THE HISTORY OF WHAT WE WEAR ON OUR FEET IS THE HISTORY OF HUMAN CIVILISATION.
NOT BECAUSE SHOES ARE ITS MOST IMPORTANT ARTEFACT. BECAUSE THEY ARE AMONG THE MOST REVEALING. A SHOE MUST ACCOMMODATE THE SPECIFIC STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN FOOT, RESPOND TO THE TERRAIN IT CROSSES, AND SIGNAL SOMETHING ABOUT THE PERSON WEARING IT. THESE REQUIREMENTS HAVE NOT CHANGED IN 40,000 YEARS. THE SOLUTIONS TO THEM REVEAL MORE ABOUT THE SOCIETIES THAT PRODUCED THEM THAN MOST OBJECTS FROM THE SAME PERIODS.
THE BEGINNING
THE OLDEST KNOWN SHOES ARE SANDALS WOVEN FROM SAGEBRUSH BARK FOUND IN FORT ROCK CAVE, OREGON, DATED TO APPROXIMATELY 10,000 YEARS AGO. EVIDENCE FROM BONE STRUCTURE ANALYSIS SUGGESTS HUMANS WERE WEARING FOOT COVERINGS SIGNIFICANTLY EARLIER, PERHAPS 40,000 YEARS BEFORE THE PRESENT, AT A POINT WHEN THE SMALL TOES BEGIN TO SHOW THE REDUCED DEVELOPMENT THAT COMES FROM REDUCED USE IN WALKING. CUSHIONED FOOTWEAR CHANGES WHICH MUSCLES THE FOOT DEPENDS ON. THE BONES REMEMBER.
THESE EARLIEST COVERINGS WERE FUNCTIONAL RESPONSES TO TERRAIN AND CLIMATE. WRAPPED HIDE IN COLDER REGIONS. WOVEN PLANT FIBRE IN DRIER ONES. THE FORM FOLLOWED THE NEED PRECISELY, WITH NO AESTHETIC AMBITION WHATSOEVER.
STATUS AND CIVILISATION
IN EGYPT, SANDALS DENOTED STATUS WITH SPECIFIC FORMALITY. THE PHARAOH'S SANDAL BEARER WAS A SIGNIFICANT COURT POSITION. DEPICTIONS OF SERVANTS SHOW THEM BAREFOOT. DEPICTIONS OF NOBLES SHOW THEM SHOD. THE SHOE AS SIGNAL OF SOCIAL POSITION IS AS OLD AS ORGANISED SOCIETY.
IN ROME, THE CALCEUS WAS THE STANDARD SHOE OF THE ROMAN CITIZEN. ITS FORM INDICATED SOCIAL CLASS WITH PRECISION. SENATORS WORE RED CALCEI WITH SPECIFIC FASTENINGS. THE PATRICIAN'S SHOE DIFFERED FROM THE PLEBEIAN'S IN MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION. WHAT YOU WORE ON YOUR FEET TOLD THE OBSERVER YOUR PLACE IN THE HIERARCHY BEFORE YOU SPOKE A WORD.
MEDIEVAL EUROPE DEVELOPED THE GUILD SYSTEM THAT REGULATED SHOEMAKING AS A SKILLED PROFESSION. THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF CORDWAINERS, FOUNDED IN LONDON IN 1272, ESTABLISHED STANDARDS FOR MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION THAT ELEVATED SHOEMAKING FROM CRAFT TO PROFESSION. THIS TRADITION OF STANDARDS, OF UNDERSTANDING WHAT A CORRECTLY MADE SHOE IS AND WHAT IT IS NOT, IS THE DIRECT ANCESTOR OF ENGLISH SHOEMAKING TODAY.
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY TRANSFORMED SHOE PRODUCTION. THE INTRODUCTION OF MACHINERY, THE BLAKE STITCHING MACHINE IN THE 1860S, THE LASTING MACHINE IN THE 1880S, MADE VOLUME PRODUCTION POSSIBLE AND MADE SHOES AFFORDABLE ACROSS THE SOCIAL SPECTRUM FOR THE FIRST TIME.
THIS WAS GENUINELY SIGNIFICANT. SHOES THAT HAD BEEN LUXURIES BECAME NECESSITIES. BUT THE SAME INDUSTRIALISATION THAT DEMOCRATISED FOOTWEAR ALSO BEGAN THE LONG PROCESS OF SEPARATING THE MASS MARKET SHOE FROM THE HANDMADE ONE. WHEN PRODUCTION MOVED TO MACHINES, THE SPECIFIC SKILLS REQUIRED TO MAKE A SHOE CORRECTLY BY HAND BECAME RARER. THE STANDARDS THAT GUILDS HAD MAINTAINED BECAME THE PROVINCE OF A SMALLER NUMBER OF SPECIALIST MAKERS.
WHERE IT STANDS
TODAY THE SPECTRUM RUNS FROM DISPOSABLE TO PERMANENT. AT ONE END, SHOES PRODUCED IN THEIR MILLIONS, DESIGNED TO LAST MONTHS, PRICED TO BE REPLACED RATHER THAN REPAIRED. AT THE OTHER, A SMALL NUMBER OF MAKERS WORKING IN THE TRADITION OF ENGLISH CORDWAINING, PRODUCING SHOES BY HAND, FROM THE FINEST MATERIALS, ON CORRECTLY DESIGNED LASTS, BUILT TO BE WORN FOR DECADES.
THE HISTORY OF WHAT WE WEAR IS THE HISTORY OF THAT SPECTRUM CONTRACTING AND EXPANDING. IT IS CURRENTLY EXPANDING TOWARD THE PERMANENT END. A GENERATION THAT HAS LIVED WITH DISPOSABILITY IS BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CONSUMING AND OWNING.
1812 EXISTS AT THE PERMANENT END OF THAT SPECTRUM. NOT AS NOSTALGIA. AS THE CORRECT RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION OF WHAT A SNEAKER SHOULD BE.
