A family of small, furniture-scale display vitrines contain shoes selected from the archives of the London College of Fashion. They are scattered throughout the rooms of Sutton House, a Tudor courtier house in East London. The scale, proportion and careful placement of each vitrine responds to the particular context and position of each within the beautifully decorated rooms of the house.
The initial idea for the design of the vitrines emerged from a visit to a shoe making workshop, and the simple steel legs that provide the recurring motif of the display cases reference the economical and practical vocabulary of the workshop tables. The elements that comprise each vitrine are configured in a way that retains the separateness of each - they look simply ‘placed’ together, lending them an air of provisionality.
The legs, at different heights, and with their little adjustable feet, allow the vitrines to maintain their poise by accommodating the steps, slopes and changes in floor level that characterise a building of this age. Their bright colours (red, green, yellow) introduce a somewhat playful and surreal element into the otherwise muted interiors.
- Location: London
- Completion: 2018
- For: London College of Fashion
- Collaborators: Alison Moloney, Åbäke
- Team: Alexandra Paritzky
- Photography: Antoine Espinasseau