Shoe prototype

Steven Arpad

ca. 1939 · metal · Costume Institute

This unique and sculptural shoe heel is believed to come 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. Arpad's designs usually feature very thoughtful integration of all the elements, so although the design of the upper that went with this heel has not been identified, one would expect it to include similar scrolling or classicizing elements.

Artist

Steven Arpad

Date

ca. 1939

Medium

metal

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Brooklyn Museum Collection