In the previous century, during the golden days of the European footwear
industry, the leather and footwear manufacturers based in the ‘Longstreet’ area
in the south of Holland organized big exhibitions presenting the latest
developments in the business, attracting visitors from all over the world.
These were called SLEM, which was short for ‘schoenen leder en mode’, meaning
shoes, leather and fashion. The last SLEM exhibition was held in 1953, almost
60 years ago. With the downfall of the local shoe industry, due to the rise of
low cost labour abroad, the exhibitions stopped. Now the name SLEM (Shoes,
Leather, Education, Museum) is revived in the form of a new education and
innovation center for the footwear business, aiming to develop and teach
innovative knowledge and skills to both students and professionals.
Where is SLEM?
SLEM is based in Waalwijk, the center of the
‘Longstreet’ area, in the south of The Netherlands, about one hour drive from Amsterdam. To some this might not
sound as the most obvious place to start an innovation and education center for
footwear, yet what most people don’t realize is that The Netherlands - even
though it is a small country - is among the biggest importers and exporters of
footwear in the world. The Dutch are known for their trading skills and these
have led them to develop shoes for companies around the globe. Furthermore,
Dutch Design has made a great name for itself in the past decades, due to the
original Dutch sense of style, keeping both feet firmly on the ground whilst
displaying a keen sense of humour. Holland is also leading in scientific
research; for instance, Dutch research center TNO in Eindhoven was the first to develop a
fully functional 3D printed shoe back in 2006.
As many footwear manufacturers were forced to
close or move abroad, most schools for the footwear industry closed their doors
as well. Yet knowledge is key to be able to compete, so we noticed a growing
need for footwear education. Of course the shoe business has changed a lot over
the past decades, yet many courses still focus mainly on making shoes by hand,
as was done in the past. At SLEM we will bridge the gap between past, present
and future by researching and teaching both historic and new knowledge about
footwear and leather. We will do this by collaborating with both the Dutch Shoe
and Leather Museum and high-tech research facilities. Together we will offer a
new international Masterclass in Industrial Footwear Design for students and a
broad range of workshops for professionals looking to update and increase
their knowledge.
How can you get involved?
SLEM is a modern ‘open source’ facility, allowing
as many parties as possible to contribute. To make certain that SLEM will do
the best job possible, we ask you to let us know what subjects you would like
to learn more about or who you would like to be your teacher. SLEM is a
nonprofit organization based largely on ‘crowd funding’, so anyone can
contribute, no matter how small the amount. For instance, currently we ask
for your donations to help build the SLEM shoe gallery, which will be a unique
place for footwear designers, students and artists from all over the world to
present their work to both people from the industry and the general public.
Even our logo is ‘open source’, allowing you to adjust it to your liking by
sketching in and around the letters.
SLEM is made possible by:
