The RMIT x EVERAU Student Design Award for Sheepskin Shoemaking embedded active footwear research directly into the second-year fashion design student learning experience, exploring the iconic Australian sheepskin boot not simply as a product to restyle, but as a culturally complex object shaped by colonial history, material ethics, and questions of national identity.

Inspired by Lynne Kelly's book "Memory Craft," I developed two workshops at RMIT University combining Indigenous memory techniques with fashion and textiles education. As a non-Indigenous educator following cultural protocols, I guided students to create embroidered identity maps and material "superheroes" for learning fibre properties—balancing AI-assisted learning with embodied, engaging and culturally respectful approaches.

In 2020, students of RMIT’s School of Fashion and Textiles teamed up with German footwear manufacturer Trippen to find accessory solutions for leather waste materials. The collaboration was part of research to develop material-driven design processes in education.