Model No. 204

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 pert ankle boot, Arpad utilizes a striped silk crepe to logically unify fabric and closure. The heel foxing and collar are combined in a novel and appealing peaked treatment. This is one of very few fabric uppers included in the group of samples, but his masterful integration of material and function make it easy to see the rationale of the choice.