From Cinderella's glass slipper to the sky-high purple platforms that caused Naomi Campbell to stumble on the catwalk, more than 250 pairs of shoes go display on 13 June at a London exhibition detailing the pleasure and pain of footwear.

The Victoria & Albert Museum is showcasing shoes historic and contemporary in a collection that spans the globe and over 2,000 years of history, ranging from an ancient Egyptian sandal decorated in gold leaf to futuristic footwear created with 3D printing.

Shoes: Pleasure and Pain also puts on display heels and flats worn by famous women such as Marilyn Monroe, Lady Gaga and Queen Victoria, as well as the ballet slippers worn by Moira Shearer in the 1948 film The Red Shoes.

"Shoes have such a cultural importance throughout history and in nearly all cultures because they signify the status of the wearer," exhibition curator Helen Persson said.

"The more uncomfortable and impractical the shoe, the higher the status of the wearer."

The exhibit explores three different themes: transformation, status and seduction. Transformation looks at the mythical aspect of shoes in folklore. Status examines how impractical shoes are worn to represent a privileged lifestyle. Finally, seduction explores the concept of footwear as a representation of sexual empowerment and pleasure.

Creations by A-list designers such as Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik and Christian Louboutin are in the exhibition, as are Vivienne Westwood's "Super Elevated Gillie" tie-up heels that Naomi Campbell fell off at a fashion show in 1993.

Shoes: Pleasure and Pain, which features footwear for both women and men, opens on 13 June and runs until January 2016.

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