Model No. 352

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.
Arpad replicates the appearance of fine tooled leather in the beautifully detailed and rendered oak leaf appliqués on this boot-like shoe. The cut of upper resembles medieval or early Renaissance footwear, which the leaf appliqués serve to accentuate both physically and thematically. The crisscross lacing reinforces this theme by making reference to the laced closures of historical garments.