Apprentice is a project that brought design into direct dialogue with the world of bespoke shoemaking. Supported by Arts Council England, it grew from Doshi Levien’s desire to work side-by-side with London makers – to learn from their processes and discover new ground together. Wanting to create something close to the making traditions of London, and to find a medium where their individual skills could meet naturally, the studio arrived at the idea of shoes: a field shaped by pattern cutting, sculptural form, and the sensual qualities of leather.

This search led them to John Lobb in St James’s, makers of hand-crafted shoes and boots whose bespoke tradition stretches back generations. Entering the workshop revealed a universe of highly skilled specialists – the fitter, the last-maker, the pattern cutter, the clicker and the maker – with each gesture rooted in centuries of accumulated skill. Rather than reinventing the shoe, Doshi Levien worked with these methods, reinterpreting what already existed and emphasising the sculptural logic of the craft. Apprentice became an exchange of expertise: a dialogue between design curiosity and deep artisanal knowledge.