InStyle USA - 11.2019

NOVEMBER 2019 InSTYLE  89

In Her

SHOE S

FOR ADVOCATE AND EDUCATOR SINÉAD

BURKE, A FETCHING PAIR OF HEELS WAS A

STEP FORWARD FOR MORE INCLUSIVE DESIGN

A

s a self-proclaimed fashion aficionada, I

can categorize most of my life by very

specific shoes. Brown boating shoes

shaped my teenage years. Odd, perhaps,

as I never took an interest in sailing, but

when I was growing up in Ireland, they

were part of the uniform at my all-girls Catholic school.

They were designed by a local company, Dubarry, and the

leather only began to soften and become

comfortable toward the end of the school

year. I’m not sure who decided that they

were academically appropriate, but they’re

still part of the school uniform today.

They’ve haunted me for almost a decade.

Pink loafers with enormous bows were

the most significant and well-worn shoes of

my early adolescence. I bought them in

the children’s department of a high-street

retailer, and there was never a time when

I questioned if they complemented the

day’s outfit. I wore them with everything—

pajamas, a ball gown, and even track pants

if I needed to do a coffee run. They’re past

the point of repair now, but I still have them.

They’re stored in a box under my bed, and

every now and again I peer in to admire

them. Those shoes brought me to so many

places. I was wearing them when I began

to discover who I was and what I wanted to

do with my life. In a strange way they remind

me that anything is possible.

Of course, finding the right shoes as a dis-

abled little person has not been easy. My feet

are a size 12 in the children’s department. And while I’m not

in favor of creating high heels for children, I’m now close to

30 and have spent much of my life desperately wanting the

types of shoes that my nondisabled friends can wear.

Late last year everything changed when I sat next to

Ferragamo’s creative director, Paul Andrew, at the Green

Carpet Fashion Awards in Milan. “We should make custom

shoes together,” I told him. I said it with a wink so that I

could pass it off as a joke if he didn’t like the idea. Inside,

though, I was quite serious. And to his credit, so was he.

Soon I was meeting the craftspeople who make Ferragamo’s

footwear and learning about each of the 40 stages required

to make one shoe. It was a humbling experi-

ence, and I finally have a pair of high heels.

They’re a classic black Vara pump adorned

with a gold flower-shaped heel [left]. They’re

simple yet elegant and prove that with good

design, the potential is limitless.

Those pumps and I have been to some

pretty amazing places. I wore them on the

cover of British Vogue’s September issue, to

my appointment as a member of Ireland’s

Council of State, and to chance encounters

with Cate Blanchett, Phoebe Waller-Bridge,

and even Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister

of New Zealand. Most recently, I wore them

to Victoria Beckham’s spring 2020 show,

where Dame Helen Mirren and I plotted

ways to redesign uncomfortable knickers.

Since I first became interested in fashion,

footwear options [for little people] have

improved. I can happily report that Gucci

loafers and shell-toe Adidas sneakers have

worked their way into my wardrobe. My shoes now tell the

world that I am an adult, and they give me the respect,

agency, and autonomy I deserve. I’m very grateful for all

that has been made available to me, but there is more to

be done. Design can unite us or make us feel more alone,

and shoes are a physical and symbolic way of measuring

our jaunt through life. My mission is to bring design and

disability closer together. I won’t rest until beautiful,

eye-catching, and magnificent shoes can be enjoyed by all.

Burke is the host of the new podcast As Me with Sinéad

from Lemonada Media.

My shoes now tell

the world that

I am an adult, and

they give me the

respect, agency,

and autonomy

I deser ve.Ó

At Salvatore

Ferragamo

headquarters.

FIRST PERSON