Model No. 225

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.
Sporty day shoes were an important element of fashion in the 1930s, and in this example Arpad makes a colorful and eye-catching interpretation of the category. Although no specific relationship between Arpad and the company is know, this design is very similar to shoes from the Preciosa line marketed by the French company Heyraud in the late 1930s.