Shoes

Herbert Levine Inc.|Beth Levine

1953 · silk, synthetic · Costume Institute

Beth Levine's ingenious and witty designs, experimentation with novel materials, and ability to invent practical solutions have earned her the place of top female shoe designer of the 20th century. Levine was particularly adept at predicting future trends and devising structural innovations. Chief among her achievements were the popularization of the fashion boot in the 1960s, the use of vinyl and spandex, and the inventions of the Spring-o-lator mule, the stocking shoe, and the topless shoe. These boundary-breaking innovations earned Levine a Coty award 1967. This pair of shoes is Levine's first stocking shoe, preserved in her personal collection. The design was extremely avant-garde for the early 1950s, and considered quite risqué when introduced. Variations of the stocking shoe were an important part of Beth Levine's oeuvre through the late 1960s.

Artist

Herbert Levine Inc.|Beth Levine

Date

1953

Medium

silk, synthetic

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Beth Levine in memory of her husband, Herbert, 1994