Shoe prototype

1939

Not on view

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.
Appealing color, contrasting piping, and prominent buttons serve to add panache and excitement to this simple design. The general style corresponds to the reappearance of buttoned shoes and boots in the Victorian revival fashions of the late 1930s.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Exhibition History

Title: Shoe prototype
Designer: Steven Arpad (French, 1904–1999)
Date: 1939
Culture: French
Medium: leather, glass, wood
Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Arpad, 1947
Object Number: 2009.300.1132
Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute

More Artwork

By Steven Arpad

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Model No. 158, Steven Arpad French, leather, wood, French — Model No. 158
Steven Arpad
1939

Model No. 139, Steven Arpad French, leather, wood, French — Model No. 139
Steven Arpad
1939

Model No. AV, Steven Arpad French, leather, wood, French — Model No. AV
Steven Arpad
1939

Model No. 249, Steven Arpad French, leather, wood, French — Model No. 249
Steven Arpad
1939

Model No. 499, Steven Arpad French, leather, wood, French — Model No. 499
Steven Arpad
1939

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