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For some visitors, the museum may bring back recollections of being fitted for their first pair of school shoes on a somewhat cold metal measuring device. For others, the exhibits of immaculate Wallabees and desert-style footwear may recall youthful obsessions with US hip-hop or British music movements.

Recollections will also return vividly for many residents whose families made Clarks shoes for generations, as the newly opened Footwear Heritage Center opens its doors in the Somerset village of Street.

Nicky Dowding said that some visitors may be surprised at how far this quintessentially UK label, which is marking its 200th year in this year, spread across the world. “In the UK, Clarks is often associated with children’s footwear, but within audiences across the world it’s viewed in very different ways,” she explained.

Dozens of pairs of footwear are on display, with some cabinets resembling bright, modern works of contemporary art. Dowding mentioned that many more were kept in archives: “One of the major jobs we’ve had while creating the exhibition is actually what do we put on display? Which narratives do we want to share? Because there is an overwhelming amount.”

Enthusiasts of hip-hop and the TV series Breaking Bad are likely to head straight to the displays of Wallabees, created in the 1960s, and inspired by the traditional soft shoe.

The Wallabee was at first seen as too unconventional in Britain but proved immensely successful in the United States and was championed by members of the New York group Wu-Tang Clan, who sported them, rapped about them, and featured them in art work.

More recently, these shoes had a featured role in the first episode of Breaking Bad when Walter White, the chemistry teacher turned crystal meth manufacturer, sported a set, along with unflattering white underwear.

A further highlight of the exhibit is its story of the Desert Boot, influenced by the journeys of a company family member to Myanmar and the subcontinent during the second world war. They became a staple of the 1960s subculture in the Britain and were also adopted enthusiastically by Liam and Noel Gallagher.

The company’s religious founders may have been taken aback that their brand became such a favourite among stars.

The inaugural exhibit in the gallery is a simple pair of house shoes made from offcuts of a woolen mat around 1825. The exhibition details how the business rapidly expanded into one of the most significant in the English West Country, and how the founders did philanthropic deeds in the region and beyond.

A family descendant, chair of the charity that conserves and promotes the brand story, explained the business flourished because of its Quaker roots. “One of the core principles is truth, and that means that you’re very honest in all your dealings,” she stated. “People trusted them. The household made some money through the business. This allowed them to become charitable and work for votes for women. They were active in the abolition movement against enslavement in the United States.”

A business archivist said his favourite part of the exhibition was a set of machines from the desert boot production line, which was based at the Bushacre factory. The factory shut down a quarter of a century ago and the footwear are now made in the Asia.

Crumplin commented: “The majority of the people that operated on that line did so for decades.” An employee was nicknamed after the ballet dancer because he moved so quickly and efficiently between the two machines he operated. “They were so proficient at what they did.”

If the Wallabees and Desert Boots will attract music fans, detailed replicas of the brand’s shoe shops will evoke memories for a broader range of people.

The museum’s director said: “In my view, people will be able to see their own stories in the exhibit. Visitors will remember having their feet measured on the device so that their initial footwear were correctly sized. It was a ceremony, a milestone.”

One of the cases includes her daughter’s first shoe, with a Polaroid photo of her in the shop. “I treasure that,” Martin said. “It unlocks a treasure trove of reminiscences.”