Worn solidly through Melbourne's lockdowns - the world's longest - these UGG boots symbolise both isolation and the comfort of home during an extraordinary time. Purchased by her husband six years ago, they became Alexandra Sherlock's constant companions while pregnant with her second child, born in July 2020 just as mask mandates began. Holes worn through sheepskin marked time spent mostly indoors. Deconstructed into a hat, necklace, and earrings with Pennie Jagiello, they escaped landfill to begin a new life.

Developed by Bared Footwear's Millie Richards, these camel-coloured Mary-Janes mark a career milestone: successfully removing petroleum-based materials from footwear construction. The truly innovative work is hidden inside, invisible from the outside. When their bio-material supplier filed for bankruptcy shortly after launch, the shoes became a reminder that sustainable infrastructure remains fragile. Rather than archive them as a "moment," deconstruction makes their hidden innovation visible and keeps the progress they represent active in the world.

Two pairs of secondhand Vans slip-ons: Sky's classic checkerboard pair from year 8, and Vinnie's leopard print pair, bought after years of him slopping around in his big sister's oversized shoes. Contemporary jeweller Pennie Jagiello kept both pairs to teach her students about material transformation. When placed side by side, the size difference became a visible marker of childhood growth - siblings measuring themselves against each other, even now.

Purchased in the 1940s in Belfast before a young Irish woman's visit to the Scottish Highlands to meet her fiancé's family, these dancing shoes carry decades of reels and ceilidhs. They fit Joan's daughter Siriol perfectly, preserving the exact shape of her mother's feet. But years of storage have left the leather brittle and cracked. Now that both the shoes and Siriol's dancing days are behind them - is it time for the shoes to have a new life as something more wearable to preserve Siriol’s connection with her mother? Story to be continued...

From a Brunswick teacher's worn-out Bared sneakers to the centrepiece of a footwear circularity exhibition in 2026, Annalise's shoes chart the evolution of the 'This is Not a Shoe' project. Rescued from hard rubbish in 2023, deconstructed into artwork by Alexandra Sherlock for Melbourne Fashion Week, 2025, and transformed into wearable accessories by contemporary jeweller Pennie Jagiello for the 2026 PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival Independent Program, these gold sneakers embody the project's core belief: circularity is a pathway to creativity and innovation, not shame.

Purchased in Chicago in 2017 during a return visit to the city where Alexandra Sherlock and her husband reconnected after a decade apart, these Rag & Bone metallic sneakers mark a significant moment: she was 20 weeks pregnant with their first child. As a footwear researcher troubled by the toxic processes behind metallic leather finishes, she transformed them into a functional phone pouch, ensuring the shoes have a longer, more useful afterlife beyond their original purpose.