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. This design is immediately notable for the novel treatment of straps on the front and for the slashed quarters which create a slingback effect. Although the two features do not relate very effectively, the curved linkages and radiant arrangement does impart a dynamic and balanced quality. This design is annotated as a development of the previous model, 2009.300.1142, which can clearly be seen in the treatment of the quarters.