COLLECTION
From medieval trip to modern sneakers. With a unique collection of 20,000 objects, including 13,000 shoes, the Shoe Quarter can tell endless stories. Stories that fit you and make you stand firm.
FIRST STEP
Antoon Hendriks laid the foundation for our collection in the 1930s. Besides being a shoemaker and teacher of shoemaking, he is a passionate collector of shoes. During the SLEM (Shoes, Leather and Fashion) exhibition held in 1953 in Waalwijk, Hendriks presents his collection for the first time. His historical and modern shoes from all over the world and the shoemaking tools attract a lot of attention. A number of shoe manufacturers from the region then decided to establish a shoe museum. Now Hendriks' collection can be displayed permanently.
SIZE GREATER
Meanwhile, the Shoe Quarter's collection has expanded considerably. The oldest complete shoe in the collection is a wooden trip from around 1300. The focus of the collection, however, is on shoes produced in the period 1875-1975, the golden age of the Dutch shoe industry. After this, the manufacturing industry largely moved to low-wage countries and there was an increasing degree of globalization.
BIG NAMES
Our collection includes shoes by big names such as Salvatore Ferragamo, Charles Jourdan and Roger Vivier. From Beth Levine, an American shoe designer nicknamed the "First Lady of Shoes," we have perhaps the most important collection outside her native country. Big Dutch names like Jan Jansen, Charles Bergmans, Fred de la Bretonnière and Lolapagola are of course not missing.
STREAKING
From the 1980s, the rise of sneakers began. By now it is impossible to imagine the streets without them. Sneakers are also no longer the exclusive territory of sports brands such as Adidas and Nike. Major fashion brands now also market them, whether or not in collaboration with the "classic" sneaker brands. The famous tabi of Maison Margiela, can just be combined with a sneaker model of Reebok.
A GOOD STORY
In addition to sneakers, the Shoe Quarter also collects designer shoes. Think specific brands like Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik and Viktor and Rolf, but also broader fashion brands like Louis Vuitton, Hermès and Alexander McQueen or Jan Taminiau. We also have many shoes in the collection of United Nude, founded by Rem Koolhaas.
Still, design is not blissful, because in fact we also collect, above all, the stories behind a shoe. So an orthopedic shoe prosthesis or a popular Croc fits the Shoe Quarter too.
