Model No. 398

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.
This model features the hooded heel, which was clearly an important interest to Arpad. In this incarnation, the possibilities of rounded feeling are explored.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Title: Model No. 398
Designer: Steven Arpad (French, 1904–1999)
Date: 1939
Culture: French
Medium: leather, 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: 2009.300.3082
Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute

More Artwork

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

Model No. 139, Steven Arpad French, leather, wood, French — Model No. 139
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Model No. AV, Steven Arpad French, leather, wood, French — Model No. AV
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Model No. 249, Steven Arpad French, leather, wood, French — Model No. 249
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Model No. 499, Steven Arpad French, leather, wood, French — Model No. 499
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