World's Top 13 Greatest (Designer) Shoe Museums

13 Greatest Shoe Museums in the World

• BATA SHOE MUSEUM - since 1995. World’s largest - and best - shoe museum (Toronto, Canada). The museum collects, researches, preserves, and exhibits footwear from around the world. It offers four exhibitions, three of which are time-limited; lectures; performances; and family events. The collection contains over 13,500 items from throughout history, as well as the present. It is the only museum in North America dedicated solely to the history of footwear.
• DUTCH SHOE MUSEUM - Waalwijk, The Netherlands. "In the Dutch Leather & Shoe Museum the shoe industry, contemporary design and technology are brought together. In addition to a permanent collection, the museum also showcases changing exhibits. A visit to the museum will leave you amazed at the versatility of designs and styles of such an everyday item as the shoe."
• GERMAN SHOE MUSEUM - Offenbach, Germany. Over 15,000 artefacts.
• GIANT SHOE MUSEUM - Seattle, WA, U.S.A. Actual real GIANT SHOES on display.
• International Wooden Shoe Museum Eelde - museum in Eelde, the Netherlands, for clogs, clog-making equipment and machinery. It has the largest collection of wooden footwear in the world.
• MARIKINA SHOE MUSEUM - City of Marikina, island of Luzon, Philippines. "Home of the World's Largest Shoe" and recipient of more than 800 pairs of shoes donated by former first lady Imelda Marcos.
• Museo Rossimoda della calzatura - (Rossimoda Museum of the Shoe) is located in the town of Stra in the Province of Venice, Italy. The Museum houses more than 1,500 models from fashion designers all over the world.
• Northampton Museum & Art Gallery - Northampton, England. "Northampton Museum and Art Gallery is home to one of the largest collections of shoes and shoe heritage in the world. Arts Council England designates the collection as being of local, national and international importance." The collection's strength lies in its very broad range, from ancient Egypt to the latest fashions, from workwear to high-end designer creations and from Northamptonshire-made shoes to footwear from around the world. Our shoes are defined by the people that wear them. We tell these footwear stories. The collection contains: More than 15,000 shoes.
• Salvatore Ferragamo Museum - since 1995. Florence, Italy. "Museo Salvatore Ferragamo is a company museum dedicated to the history of the Ferragamo company, the life of its founder and his creations." The museum contains 10,000 models of shoes created and owned by Ferragamo from the 1920s until his death in 1960.
• SONS | SHOES OR NO SHOES - Kruishoutem, Belgium. "Almost every human being owns a pair in one or another execution. On the one hand this universal object leads a visitor of SONS through all ethnic cultures and peoples, from the first foot-covered footsteps of humans till today. On the other hand through the world of modern art, highlighted out of a surprising perspective." Specializes in ethnographic shoes, or shoes with special cultural significance.
• THE SHOE MUSEUM - Street, Somerset, England. Exhibits shoes dating from the Roman era to the present day. The museum includes the first clogs worn by Gracie Fields and the wedding shoes of Diana, Princess of Wales. England exhibited shoes dating from the Roman era to the present day. The museum closed on 27 September 2019.
• TUSPM SHOE MUSEUM - since 1976. At Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Includes roughly 900 pairs of shoes, 250 of which are on display on the sixth floor of the TUSPM main building. The displays focus on the question of why people wear shoes.
• VIRTUAL SHOE MUSEUM - Den Haag, Netherlands. Initiated by Liza Snook in 2004. "The VirtualShoeMuseum aims to present Shoes and its designers in a new and fresh environment, focused on exploration, surprise and awe." As of May 19, 2023: 2556 shoes.