Annie Purdy

Annie May Purdy is a footwear designer and shoemaker transitioning from her professional design practice into academia as a PhD Fellow at Design School Kolding, where she is undertaking the SCARPA project Footwear Design for Resale. She holds an MA in Fashion (Footwear) from the Royal College of Art, where she was a Max Mara Scholar, a BA (Hons) in Footwear Design from London College of Fashion, and completed her Art Foundation at Central Saint Martins.

Appointed an Associate Cordwainer, Annie’s work has received the Cordwainers Sustainable Development Prize (2023) and the APICCAPS Footwear Award (2025). Her shoes have been exhibited internationally, and featured in publications including Forbes, Vogue and FashionUnited.

Her research investigates how second-hand footwear practices and consumer behaviours can inform design for resale, longevity and circularity. Through design anthropology and research-through-design, she aims to translate insights from consumers, resale platforms and the footwear industry into practical design knowledge and experimental outcomes.

Her broader practice explores footwear through sustainability, material reuse, repair and community-led making, with a particular interest in connecting design practice with the everyday lives of products beyond their first owner.