Design Museums in Toronto: Shoes, Clay and Textiles

The Bata calls André Perugia one of the most significant and under-researched footwear designers of the 20th century. Its exhibition, André Perugia: A Design Legend Unveiled, is listed as running until April 4, 2027. The museum says the designer created shoes for fashion houses such as Dior and Schiaparelli. Over 95 examples of his work from the 1920s through the 1960s are featured, alongside shoes by contemporary designers inspired by his vision. The show explores his contribution to the articulated sole and the stiletto heel.

For a deep-time contrast, Unearthing Vindolanda is listed as on view from May 7, 2026 until September 2027. It features over 100 footwear-related artifacts from a Roman fort south of Hadrian’s Wall, on view for the first time in North America. The museum says researchers had long thought such garrisons were the domain of men alone, but the footwear revealed sandals of elite women, shoes worn by little children and soldiers’ boots. Shoes can rewrite a story.

Also on the schedule is Brilliant: The Art of Beaded Footwear Around the World, listed as on view from October 22, 2026 until April 2028. It brings together more than 85 crafted objects spanning 400 years of history, from Africa, Europe, South Asia, Turtle Island (North America) and Western Asia. One detail we love: in Southeast Asian Peranakan wedding attire, the museum says brides were responsible for beading their own bridal shoes as a demonstration of their taste and skill.

The museum regularly displays over a thousand shoes and related artifacts, chosen from a collection of nearly 15,000 objects. Its permanent exhibition, All About Shoes, reflects over 4,500 years of history, and three other galleries feature changing shows. It opened in 1995 at 327 Bloor Street West, in a building designed by Moriyama and Teshima Architects.

The TTC calls the Gardiner Canada’s national ceramics museum. The museum says it stewards an internationally significant collection of ceramics while centering hands-on learning and making.

Its exhibitions page lists After the Island: Caribbean Canadian Ceramics from October 9, 2026 to April 25, 2027. It sits in the third-floor Exhibition Hall and is included with admission. Four Canadian artists with roots in the Caribbean use clay to explore what our bodies inherit, protect and carry forward. Across sculpture, painting and immersive installation, you can step inside a scented shelter where fragrance triggers memory, or take the controls of an interactive video game. Some artworks include scent, so the museum asks visitors sensitive to odours to be advised.

In Search of Imperfection, the Macdonald Collection of Japanese and Japanese-Inspired Ceramics, is listed from July 10, 2025 to March 7, 2027. The museum says the collection is on view in its entirety throughout the museum for the first time, with a special display of Japanese porcelain from the early Edo period.

If you would rather make than look, the museum’s site promotes pottery classes including wheel throwing and decorating. Check its Learn and Make pages for the current schedule.

The TTC says the museum showcases exhibitions, collections and programs connected to textile art and culture. Its programming page lists Made By Many: 50 Years of the Textile Museum of Canada from October 30, 2025 to February 1, 2027. The museum says the show celebrates five decades of exhibitions and communities that shaped it, across galleries that trace its evolution from the present day back to the 1970s.

For fashion lovers, Always In Fashion is listed from May 1, 2026 to January 3, 2027. The museum calls it an immersive exploration of Indigenous design languages and their impact on the fashion landscape of the lands we call Canada and the United States. It looks at how contemporary Indigenous couturiers blend ancestral knowledge with cutting-edge innovation.

Craft fans should scan the programming calendar too: it has listed workshops in textile collage, tufting and machine sewing. If you cannot visit in person, the online collection gives access to all 15,000+ objects from over 200 regions of the world.