Model No. 397

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.
In this sophisticated design, Arpad uses and interlaced effect to create an unusual overlapping/underlapping duality. Contrasting material are deployed to produce the appearance of pump and mule combination, or of a suede spat strapped over a low patent pump. To assure its potency, the designer has articulated the construction by sharp lines and contrast piping.