Rutger de Nooij currently studies artisan shoemaking at the René van den Berg Academy, NL.
Rutger: ‘After holding back my shoemaking aspirations for nearly four decades I became a student of Rene van den Berg in 2018 and have been studying with him since. I am not in any way interested in function, only aesthetics matter and the process in which all kinds of materials can come together and converge in a pair of shoes. Other than that I am utterly pragmatic and always curious in how I can use any “thing” for or in making a pair.
What I find truly liberating is just starting off with no plan, design or goal at all and finding myself in the Zone going with the flow. “Waar niks mag mislukken kan niets nieuws ontstaan!” is Dutch for: When failure is not an option nothing new can emanate!’
In 2025 he took part in the Shoes Mastercourse by Kobi Levi and René van den Berg in Hoofddorp, The Netherlands.
© Rutger de Nooij.
