Beth Levine (fashion designer)

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This article is about the American fashion designer. For the research medical doctor, see Beth Levine (physician).
See also:
Herbert Levine label
Shoes by Beth Levine

Beth Levine (December 31, 1914 – September 20, 2006) was an American

fashion designer
most known for her designs from the 1940s through the 1970s.

Under the

Herbert Levine label, bearing the name of her husband, Herbert Levine, Beth was the best-known American women's shoe designer from the 1950s to the early 1970s, and was called "America's First Lady of Shoe Design" until her death in 2006.[1]

Beginnings

She was born as Elizabeth Katz in

Red Cross volunteer during World War II.[citation needed
]

Design career

Beth Levine met

Herbert Levine label
together.

Beth Levine's greatest influence is considered to be the re-introduction of

fashion boots leaped so much that Saks Fifth Avenue opened a special section its shoe department called "Beth's Bootery".[citation needed
]

Levine was hired in 1965, along with famed couturier Emilio Pucci and designer Alexander Girard, to help overhaul a new look and style for Braniff International Airways. The campaign, developed by Jack Tinker and Partner's Mary Wells Lawrence, was dubbed The End Of The Plain Plane, and was a revolutionary airline overhaul, which had never been attempted. Levine designed the unique shoes that complemented the Pucci uniform designs.

Innovations

Fashion innovations introduced by Beth Levine for the

mules (where an elastic strip allowed the wearer to keep the shoes securely on while wearing stockings despite the lack of any straps at the side or back of the shoes), stocking boots (pantyhose with heels attached, as well as boots made from materials like vinyl and acrylic) and clear plastic shoes.[citation needed
]

Beth was an early feminist in the fashion industry.[2]

Awards

Beth Levine was awarded the Coty Award in 1967 for design innovation.[3]

Collections

Levine's designs are included in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[4]

Death

Beth Levine died in Manhattan of lung cancer on September 20, 2006, aged 91, survived by a daughter, Anna Thomson-Wilson, also of Manhattan, and grandsons H Hugo Thomson and William Davidson Thomson 3rd.[citation needed][5][6]

References

  1. ^ "Vintage Fashion Guild's page on Levine, Herbert". 19 July 2010. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  2. ^ Wilson, Eric (23 September 2006). "Beth Levine, 'First Lady of Shoe Design,' is Dead at 91". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Wilson, Eric (23 September 2006). "Beth Levine, 'First Lady of Shoe Design,' is Dead at 91". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "Beth Levine | Shoes | American".
  5. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  6. ^ Corcoran, Cate T. (2006-09-25). "Obituary: Shoe Innovator Beth Levine, 91". WWD. Archived from the original on 2021-07-15. Retrieved 2021-07-15.

External links

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