Shoe prototype

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. Boot-like styles with very high vamps were a strong presence in the late 1930s. Working within that vein, Arpad here introduces a refined and elegant cut to the upper. The interesting contrast of covered and bare areas evokes the basic concepts of protection and vulnerability. The general feeling of simplicity in the cut is made more primal by the use of furred leather.