Presenters

*Check back for updates*

Honorable Cordwainers’ Company | http://www.thehcc.org

Daphne Board
Custom Handmade Shoes & Boots
Presentation: Sculpting Platform Soles: Aesthetics and Biomechanics

Michael Anthony Carnacchi
Custom Boots by Michael Anthony
Presentation: Lincoln’s Boots, Revisited

Anne Marika Verploegh Chasse
Brooklyn Bespoke
Presentation: Inspiration/Collaboration – In this time of mass production versus the fascination of artisanal and handcrafted, there is a small world of artisans, designers and makers collaborating to create unique products. Anne Marika will showcase some of these collaborations including, a class she taught at RISD, her and her business partner’s workshop, her shoemaking with artists collaborating on treatment of leather or smart materials, and some of her friends’ collaborations in new footwear projects.

Kate Irvin
Department of Costume and Textiles, Rhode Island School of Design Museum
Presentation/Tour: Viewing and Discussion of the Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art Shoe Collection

Edward Maeder
Costume & Textile Consultant, former Curator of Costumes and Textiles at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, former director of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto
Presentation: The Private Life of Shoes

Marcell Mrsan
Accredited Master Shoemaker, owner and maker of Koronya Handmade Shoes and Boots, Professor at SCAD
Presentation: The Renaissance of Handmade – Exploring the future scenarios of our craft, our advantages vs. the factory work, what is our role in this age to preserve the craft

Shaun A. Pekar
Artificer Shoemaker, Fort Ticonderoga
Presentation: Walking Through Time, The continued development of a shoemaking program at Fort Ticonderoga

Val Povinelli
Journeyman Shoemaker, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Presentation: Jack-boots Once the Property of Thomas Lord Fairfax – Research into and Recreation of his Boots

Rick Roman
Romango Shoes, HCC Board Member
Presentation: Some Practical Chemistry for Shoemakers

Lisa Sorrell
Artist & Bootmaker, HCC Board Member
Presentation: The Evolution of Design: Leather Inlay and Overlay 

June Swann M.B.E.
Assistant and then Keeper of the Boot and Shoe Collection, Northampton Museum (England) 1950-1988. Since then: Consultant, History of Shoes and Shoemaking
Presentation: Shoemaking through the Ages, read by D.A. Saguto, Master Boot & Shoemaker, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, founding HCC Board Member 

Massimo Boldrini
Vice president of Vera Pelle Italiana Conciata al Vegetale, owner of Conceria La Perla Azzurra
Presentation: Vegetable-tanning leather in Tuscany is a product of artisan skill and rigorous technical and environmental standards. Vera Pelle Italiana Conciata al Vegetale has created a protocol of the highest quality international parameters that members must follow to use the trademark. Boldrini’s presentation will explain just what is behind that trademark.

Stefano Parrini
Tuscan Master Craftsman of Veg-tanned leather, and Maestro of Leather Goods designated by Samsung
Workshop: Working with veg-tanned leather is a life’s passion, with know-how deeply ingrained in every gesture of the artisan. Stefano Parrini shares his skill, tools, and experience with students and fellow craftsmen in an exchange of high traditional art and craft.

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S.L.E.M. | http://www.slem.nl

Nicoline van Enter
Lecturer, Founder, and Creative Director of S.L.E.M.
Presentation: Nicoline will be speaking about education and innovation in footwear. She will discuss the culture, design and technology of the craft.

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Additional Guest Speakers

Carmen Artigas
Sustainable Fashion Designer and Consultant
Presentation 1: Fashion Anthropology through Shoes – Carmen worked as curator for El Museo del Calzado el Borcegui, the only shoe museum in Latin America. She oversaw a global collection of 5,000 historical shoes, shoe accessories, and documents, while developing an extensive understanding of shoe design and construction techniques in every ethnicity and time period. Carmen will discuss what shoes say about the wearer’s psychology, footwear and cultural identity, and some unusual anecdotes about famous feet. She will draw on examples ranging from the Pharoahs of Egypt, to European royalty.
Presentation 2: The Footprint of Footwear – Carmen will speak about sustainability in fashion and footwear.

Bill Shanor
Bonney and Wills School of Shoemaking and Design
Presentaiton: Feynman, Sagan and My Trip to Ace Hardware…The Myth of Creativity – The lecture will chronicle: my history examining what the creative process really is (not what you might think), what stifles it, and the steps to achieving what many think is some gift available only to a few. By examining the process in Sagan, Feynman, and, perilously close to home, myself, I hope to free up those students who think creativity is something special. By revealing how our mind functions, and its rules, I will simplify and take the mystery out of “creativity”.  The lecture will begin at a cosmic level, venture through evolution, biology, our icons, society, our minds, and end up looking at tools in Ace Hardware.  Can I tie it all together? You bet I can! Watch this video about Bill: Video

Jenna Goldberg
Critic, ID, RISD, www.jennagoldbergstudio.com
Presentation: Jenna is a furniture maker who dabbles in the art of shoemaking. She is currently experimenting with making wooden clogs and platforms. Her workshop will be about how to lay out, cut and carve a wooden platform shoe.

Diane Becker has worked in all aspects of the specialty leather business including design of and education about high-end leather goods and shoes, specializing in international trend research and creative identity. She will be presenting Craft the Leather, the International Design Workshop, a project of Vera Pelle. The Craft the Leather collections include Tuscan Veg-Tan leatherworks created by young makers from ten international design institutes. See the gallery for examples.

Mike Tomkin,
Director of Sustainability, STAHL
Presentation: Sustainability in the Leather Supply Chain – Tomkin has worked in the leather industry since 1969 and has been with STAHL for 21 years. He has visited tanneries in more than 60 different countries. Stahl is the leading chemical supplier to the leather industry, originally founded in Peabody, MA, around 1930. Stahl manufactures in ten different countries and has over 40 technical service labs in all the major tanning areas in the world.

Sharon Raymond
Author of How to Make the Simplest Shoes – nomocs, lomocs, and fomocs
Presentation: Raymond will share some new, simple shoemaking techniques.

Jorge Gomez
Co-Founder at Well Bred Co., RISD M.I.D. ’09
Presentation: Jorge has worked in footwear design for many years. He has been involved in trend research, design, and manufacturing for major brands. He evolved to create his own line of men’s footwear, Well Bred Co., that is made and sourced entirely within America. Well Bred is designed with the greatest integrity of honest materials, American silhouettes, and the goal of creating the best possible product by supporting American businesses and craftsmen. In parallel to owning his own brand, Jorge has worked and consulted for Banana Republic, Tory Burch, and Louise & Co. Jorge’s lecture will focus on the process of starting and operating an American made brand. He will talk through the creative process and how to translate it into a finished product.

Peggy Sue Deaven-Smiltnieks
Co-Founder and Sourcing Director, Where. {a clothed narrative}, RISD BFA’09
Presentation: Peggy Sue co-founded Where. with the mission of taking steps towards revitalizing the US Fiber Industry. She works directly with farmers, start-up mills and artisans to design a sustainable clothing and accessory line that celebrate their skills and products. Where. is a farm to fashion company that honors the American fiber heritage. She will be speaking on how to create a product that tells a story and uses the materials available locally in the US to their fullest extent and then some; by growing and educating a conscious consumer and dedicated fiber industry.

Linn Cassetta
Presentation: Melding Form, Function, and Fasion – a design professional with a background in apparel and footwear design, manufacturing and marketing. After receiving her BFA in Apparel Design from Rhode Island School of Design, she became the first American to be accepted at the Royal College of Art in London where she earned her MA. Her accomplishments at RCA drew the attention of Vogue editor Kay Hays which led to an immediate position at Andrew Geller Shoes. She and her team were instrumental in launching the first Calvin Klein shoe collection and later capturing a Vogue Shoe of the Year award. Linn’s talents as a rising star did not go unnoticed. She was recruited by Jerrell of Texas to create an upscale apparel label bearing her name, Linn Callahan.

Alicia Reina
RISD Apparel Alum
Presentation: A Common Thread, Apparel and Footwear Practices – Alicia will showcase the experience of shoemaking through apparel.