Founded in 1948 in New York by Beth and Herbert Levine, Herbert Levine is defined by sculptural sophistication, cinematic allure, and surreal elegance. Under the creative direction of Trevor Houston and guided by Beth’s visionary legacy, the house focuses on shaping a distinctive footwear wardrobe that fuses modern glamour with refined craftsmanship and intelligent design.
By the mid-1950s, Herbert Levine ranks as the sixth-largest footwear manufacturer in the United States. The brand partners with top retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, and Neiman Marcus, and becomes the first American shoe label carried by Harrods in London and Galeries Lafayette in Paris.
Beth creates some of her most iconic silhouettes during this decade, including the Cyrano, Gigi Stocking, Kabuki, Under Construction, Jordan Heel, On A Roll, Peek-A-Boo boot, and the patented Spring-o-Lator mule. Innovation drives the brand’s collections, marked by technical ingenuity and cutting-edge materials like nylon and paper. In 1959, at the request of Diana Vreeland, Beth designs the Aladdin’s Lamp—a low-heeled, jewel-tipped shoe with an upturned point that is both open and closed.
The Levines immerse themselves in the world of modern and contemporary art. They collect works by Franz Kline, Philip Pearlstein, Milton Avery, and Paul Signac, and often travel to France to acquire Picasso ceramics and other artistic treasures.
They commission portraits from artists like Andy Warhol and incorporate avant-garde art into their advertisements, using Saul Steinberg’s illustrations and Jean Dubuffet’s surrealist motifs. Their personal collection includes antique miniatures, rare ballet memorabilia, and fashion curiosities.
Herbert Levine shoes are captured by the world’s leading photographers—Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Helmut Newton, Norman Parkinson, Guy Bourdin, and David Bailey among them.
Herbert Levine began his career in journalism, while wife Beth modeled size 4B shoes. Their marriage in 1948 led to thirty years of inventive shoe design with Herbert running the business while Beth acted as head designer. The Herbert Levine company introduced the world to “Spring-o-Lator” mules, stocking boots (pantyhose with heels attached), and popularized the return of the fashion boot in the mid 1960s, using novelty materials like vinyl and acrylic. Famous for creative, fun styles like racing car shoes and gilded wood platforms found limited success, but established the Levines as true American shoe designers. Some crazy styles, created more for publicity than setting a fashion, included slippers with newspaper, money, or candy-wrapper plaited uppers, sandals sporting Astroturf insoles, or upperless sandals, where the shoe was glued onto one’s nylons.
Closed in 1975, shoes from the Herbert Levine company are remembered equally for their creativity and humour as they were for their craftsmanship. Their clientele included stars like Bette Davis and Barbara Streisand, they provided the boots for Nancy Sinatra to walk in. First Ladies Pat Nixon and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis were also among their clientele. Although Herbert passed away in 1991, Beth Levine remained “America’s First Lady of Shoe Design” until her death in 2006 at the age of 92.
