Green Shoes

Caught by the River · Oct 5, 2026

In an extract from ‘Green Shoes: Forty years of a radical women’s craft collective’, published this Thursday by The Indigo Press, Alison Hastie recalls how she first pursued a career in shoemaking in the 1970s.

I knew that I wanted to earn my living using my hands. I had previously got as far as thinking about weaving, but shoemaking was, quite literally, a better fit, as shoes were a necessity for everyone and something I found difficult to find. I had no idea about how to become a shoemaker, so I went to the careers office on campus for advice. The interview was quite awkward…