Foot Notes: Shoes, Symbolism, and Society

Footwear becomes a window into identity, politics and everyday life in a Wolfsonian–FIU exhibition focused on the first half of the 20th century. Foot Notes: Shoes, Symbolism, and Society runs July 2 through February 28 on the museum’s seventh floor. Curated by Danielle Charlap, the exhibition draws from The Wolfsonian’s collection to examine how shoes reflect changing cultural values as well as advances in materials, technology and design.

The exhibition looks at footwear as both functional object and social symbol, tracing how design and fabrication intersected with merchandising, innovation, propaganda and recreation. Rare examples by designers such as Salvatore Ferragamo and Beth Levine appear alongside broader historical materials that place shoes within the larger visual culture of the period.

Organized by The Wolfsonian–FIU in Miami Beach, Foot Notes invites visitors to consider how a familiar object can carry layered meanings about status, movement, labor, style and the societies that produced it.