Imelda Marcos opens shoe shrine

Imelda Marcos opens shoe shrine

MANILA (Reuters): Former First Lady Imelda Marcos, the world's most notorious shoe collector, opened a museum in the Philippines on Friday dedicated to footwear and boosting tourism.

The Marikina City Footwear Museum in Manila includes hundreds of pairs of shoes, some collected from the presidential palace after Imelda and her late husband ex-President Ferdinand Marcos fled the country in disgrace in 1986.

Others were donated by Imelda herself or by a number of local politicians and film stars.

The former first lady, who hopes the museum will boost tourism and help Marikina's local footwear industry, said the shoe shrine was a creative way of turning a negative perception of the country into something positive.

About 1,200 pairs of shoes were said to have been found in Malacanang presidential palace when Imelda and her husband fled.