Matea Gluscevic

Exclusive Interview with Matea Gluscevic: In Her Boots Designer, 2024 Overall Winner

In Conversation with Matea Gluscevic: In Her Boots Designer & 2024 Overall Winner.

Matea Gluscevic shares the story behind In Her Boots, a collection of five football boots crafted from those worn by past icons of women’s AFL. For this, she was recognized with the Global Footwear Awards 2024, Best Overall Winner in the Independent Category.

A visionary in bespoke shoemaking, Matea’s work reflects her artistic spirit and mastery of Italian Lunati and Geometric pattern-making techniques. Her bold designs merge storytelling with craftsmanship, turning footwear into statements of functional beauty.

In this interview, she discusses her vision, creative process, and the challenges behind her brand.

Our conversation with Matea Gluscevic

Can you share the story behind your brand? How was it created, and what shaped its growth?

My brand is really just me, and the story is just that of my journey as a creative – it was created out of my own desire to create and design, and my life and opportunities have shaped its growth. The most notable things that have shaped the growth of my footwear work over the last 4 years are probably my participation in various fashion weeks in Australia, interest from the media, an apprenticeship with Master Shoemaker Eugenia Neave while I was in Adelaide, and the support I have received from those around me. I would also say that my drive to create functional wearable items has also been a big driver of my interest in footwear and the reason that I am doing what I am doing. 

What is the vision behind In Her Boots, and how did the idea for the project come to be?

The vision came from the team at PXP Studios who were looking for a way to visually communicate progress in the AFLW as part of that “In Her Boots” campaign with AFLW and Johnnie Walker. Clearly, using boots from past players was a very literal and straightforward way to do this, and I think it was quite effective. I think they had heard about my work through one of their colleagues, and when they got in touch, I was more than happy to participate in such a thoughtful project.

The materials used in the collection were sourced from recycled shoes, what led you to this choice?

The team at PXP suggested I use the shoes from past players of the AFLW, as this would help visually communicate the narrative of progress in women’s sport which is what the In Her Shoes campaign was about and give the shoes real character and depth. This choice would also mean that we would have a much more visually interesting end product.

The collection has a striking visual design, why did you choose to create such a bold look? 

A bold look was important in order for these shoes to stand out as part of the campaign. I combined elements of ballet flat shoes, football shoes, bag making and obvious hand stitching in order to create a shoe that was aesthetically familiar as a sports shoe but still unique and with a distinctly handmade feel.

Can you walk us through the design process, from the initial ideation to the final product?

Initial ideation was led by the team at PXP with the suggestion of working with boots from past players. The design process was relatively rushed as we didn’t have much time, and was happening mostly in the form of my experimentation with materials and troubleshooting.

As a loose description of how that played out – I wanted to create something that had elements of what I consider femininity without being overtly feminine and something that felt like it combined old and new processes. I introduced the idea of having a topline that somewhat resembled a ballet flat shoe but with lace-up tabs and a tongue. This was well received by the team. From there, we resolved the branding aspects: laser etched tagline in the veg tan sole and screen printed logos on the tongue tabs. Then there was a period of play – where I explored the materials (old shoes) and how I could use them differently in each pair. For example, on one pair, I zigzagged old laces together into a panel that was used as the upper on a heel. In another pair, molded plastic branding was cut up and applied to other panels to create a new, vaguely sports-looking logo. Then I researched football boot cleats, and we considered using either new gold cleats or making my own from leather. Ultimately we decided that to get the right aesthetic balance, I would use the metal cleats. So you can see how it wasn’t really something that was fully resolved and then made, it was more of a loose idea that took shape as we worked and played through the making process. 

How does your approach to sustainability in In Her Boots differ from other designs that also emphasize recycled materials? 

With this project the main difference is that we focused on using recycled materials specifically from the past players shoes rather than just any random existing materials. Additionally while the vegetable tanned leather soles aren’t recycled, they are still sustainable and are a relatively uncommon material to use in this type of application at this point in time.

Can you tell us about some of the challenges you faced during the creation of In Her Boots? How did you address these difficulties?

Getting all the old shoes from past players was a bit of a challenge in terms of being able to meet our deadline for the project. I addressed this by making sure to work on aspects of the boots, like preparing soling, etc, and leaving the upper sewing right until the end, which is the opposite of my usual process. Including the branding/tagline was a bit of a challenge as we wanted it to stand out and look good but still fit with the handmade aesthetic of the shoes and be doable in our short timeframe. This was addressed by doing a few materials and processes tests and settling on hand-cutting and painting veg tan soles and then getting them laser etched, something I thought was a really nice example of old and new technologies coming together.

What lessons or insights did the experience of creating In Her Boots bring to you personally?

I guess I became more aware of some of the history of women’s sports in Australia, which was definitely interesting. I also realized that I generally enjoy working with a team and leading the design and manufacturing process. The experience also provided valuable insights into how the advertising/marketing industry works as well as experience with other design professionals in a context I hadn’t worked in before.

Congratulations on winning the overall sustainability prize at the GFA Awards! How does this recognition align with your brand’s goals, and what impact do you believe it will have on your future?

I have been striving for more industry recognition so this award aligns perfectly with my goals. I believe that winning this award will provide my brand/work with more global visibility and more opportunities to work on unique design projects. It has also increased my confidence in my own work and encouraged me to keep creating.

Looking ahead, what are your priorities for the brand? Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations you’re particularly excited about?

Currently, I have started a new brand, Cakey Sportsman which includes garments and accessories as well as footwear. I will still be creating bespoke footwear under my Matea Gluscevic brand and working on various creative footwear projects that come up, however I will now also be expressing myself more freely in all forms through the Cakey Sportsman brand. There is nothing in particular planned for this year yet, but there’s usually always something interesting that comes up – I can’t wait to see what it will be this year!