Ep. 35 - Sebastian Tarek, about shoemaking education

About this episode

Sebastian Tarek discusses the evolution of shoemaking education and its future.

For this episode, I met up with the Australian born, UK-based, shoemaker Sebastian Tarek. Apart from running his own bespoke shoe brand and doing outwork for various London-based bespoke shoemakers, he has also for many years been involved in teaching shoemaking both at colleges and in other ways, and is highly engaged in the topic of education. With focus on the UK but also looking at it at a wider perspective, we talk about how the ways to become a shoemaker has changed through the years, what the possibilities are today for those who want to learn to make shoes by hand, and what needs to be done to preserve and develop shoemaking education in the future. Among other things.

People in this episode

Guest: Sebastian Tarek

Topics covered

• shoemaking
• education
• bespoke shoes
• craftsmanship

Keywords

• UK
• handmade shoes
• shoemaking techniques

Mentioned in this episode

Products: bespoke shoes

Places: UK, London

More episodes of Shoegazing Podcast

• Ep. 37 - Q&A Special with Seiji McCarthy · March 20, 2026 · 50 min
• Ep. 36 - Daniel Bucheli, Majordome, about finding a unique design language · December 22, 2025 · 49 min
• Ep. 34 - Rob James, Euroleathers, about leather wholesaling · April 21, 2025 · 52 min
• Ep. 33 - Takashi Horiguchi, Super 8 Shoes, about vintage men's shoes · January 26, 2025 · 33 min
• Ep. 32 - Q&A Special nr. 3 with Daniel Wegan, Catella Shoemaker · October 20, 2024 · 54 min
• Ep. 31 - Jim McCormack, about life as a freelance bespoke shoemaker · May 26, 2024 · 1h 15m