Jeremyn Lee, Senior Footwear Designer at Thom Browne, opens his personal archive of luxury shoes to CULTURED magazine. His collection, housed in his Fort Greene home, includes rare runway samples and discontinued styles from brands like Prada, Miu Miu, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, and Maison Margiela. Lee began collecting after an internship at Marc Jacobs, focusing on nostalgia-driven pieces he first admired on Tumblr as a teen. The archive is meticulously catalogued with photography organized by size, brand, and season, featuring items like the Maison Margiela Spring 2009 'oversized sandals' sold as display objects.
This article matters because it highlights the growing intersection of fashion collecting and art-world practices, treating footwear as design objects worthy of archival preservation. Lee's collection blurs the line between personal wardrobe and museum-quality archive, reflecting broader trends in how fashion history is documented and valued. The piece also underscores the role of digital platforms like Tumblr in shaping collecting habits and the importance of preserving ephemeral runway pieces that were never mass-produced.