What is the value of the footwear archive and museum? Why are so many brands now establishing their own archives, and how and why do footwear professionals engage with archival materials? In the first of three episodes on footwear histories, Dr Alexandra Sherlock chats with Tim Crumplin, business archivist at the Shoemakers Museum and Alfred Gillet Trust (Clarks Archive), to discuss the significance of public and private archives and the vital role of their custodianship for culture and industry.
Credits:
Interviewee: Tim Crumplin
Interviewer: Dr. Alexandra Sherlock
Presenters: Dr. Alexandra Sherlock and Dr. Emily Brayshaw
Editor: Dr. Alexandra Sherlock
Photographs: Credits in photograph captions
Chapters:
00:00 - Show Intro
00:58 - Episode Overview - Emily and Alex
07:26 - Tim’s background and route into Clarks and the Alfred Gillet Trust
11:09 - How the archive has changed
14:15 - Recognising the value of the archive as a creative resource
18:28 - Street, Somerset and the Quaker influence on Clarks
24:40 - Vertical integration and traceability
27:50 - How to build an archive
37:23 - The vulnerability of shoe museums and archives
39:03 - The case for the charitable trust model
45:20 - Collection policy: what gets kept and why
49:40 - How designers use the archive in practice
55:30 - Archives, corporate culture and healthy approaches to risk-taking
01:06:47 - External access and community engagement
01:09:03 - Digitisation
01:16:52 - How to become a business archivist
01:19:04 - Finding and visiting the Shoemakers Museum
www.footwearresearchnetwork.org
