Model No. 476

This object comes from a group of over seventy-five shoe prototypes designed in Paris in 1939 by Steven Arpad. Aside from the lines of leather accessories and jewelry he produced under his own name in the 1940s, Arpad seems to have worked mostly anonymously. The prototypes are accompanied by an extensive archive of original sketches which has made it possible to identify uncredited shoe designs for Balenciaga and Delman as Arpad's work. Containing some of the most creative, unique, and unusual examples of footwear design in the collection, the museum's holdings appear to be the only documented body of the work of this extraordinary designer.
Elements of Victorian era styles were revived by designers in the late 1930s, including the taste for ankle boots. This design, although completely modern in detail, falls within that trend. The leather is deftly molded over the foot, and the fullness is arranged in neat ruffles around the ankle and belted with a patent leather strap. This configuration highlights the identity of the shoe prototype as an experiment in ideas rather than a functional design, as this boot contains no actual closure to allow insertion or removal of the foot.