Model No. 197

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.
Superbly refined detail and appealing color and material contrasts distinguish this prototype. The design is annotated as a development of the two previous models: on 2009.300.3059 the vamp has simply been pleated strapped in place; on 2009.300.3060 the pleating has been formalized and stitched in place; here the pleats are further refined into two neat tucks formed by a belt across the throat.