“WANT: Desire, Design and Depression Era Footwear” at Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto
newsdepo.com
Toronto’s Bata Shoe Museum Explores the 1930s from Economic Crisis to Hollywood Glam. The exhibition, “WANT: Desire, Design and Depression Era Footwear,” will be on view until March 30, 2020.The Bata Shoe Museum recently announced the opening of its new
“WANT: Desire, Design and Depression Era Footwear” at Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto
Toronto’s Bata Shoe Museum Explores the 1930s from Economic Crisis to Hollywood Glam. The exhibition, “WANT: Desire, Design and Depression Era Footwear,” will be on view until March 30, 2020.The Bata Shoe Museum recently announced the opening of its newest exhibition “WANT: Desire, Design and Depression Era Footwear.” A powerful reflection on a turbulent decade, “WANT” explores the myriad dramatic design changes seen in footwear fashion, including the introduction of the wedge and the re-emergence of the platform, as per an official release.According to the release, as global economies tumbled when the U.S. stock market crashed in 1929, want proliferated — want of employment, want of security, want of escape. The desires born from want drove an explosion of cultural creativity from movie to fashion. Some creative endeavors offered distraction from the troubling times, while others stoked desire in the hopes that by encouraging consumption, the economy could be redeemed. Many of the most innovative shoe designs in the history of western fashion were created during this decade of want. Shoe designers Salvatore Ferragamo, Andre Perugia, and Steven Arpad played with the architecture of footwear, creating uplifting platforms and wedges, as well as futuristic novelty heels and revealing peep toes that reflected escapist Hollywood glamor and new conceptions of fashionable femininity.As per the release, “I’m absolutely delighted to have arrived at the Bata Shoe Museum at such a time of creative ambition and excellence,” said Dr. Steven Parissien, Executive Director, “‘WANT’ demonstrates what our museum does so brilliantly — making historic subjects and issues come to life through insightful and invigorating interpretation while showcasing the breadth of our own, world-class collection. It’s the first of many engaging and thought-provoking exhibitions we are planning over the next few years.”According to the release, showcasing approximately 60 rare and exquisite 1930s artifacts and focusing on themes such as Novelty, Exoticism, The New Leisure, Objects of Desire, All That Glitters, and Future Footwear, “WANT” takes visitors on a journey through the fashions of the time, the styles, colors, and the materials used. Highpoints of the exhibition include the iconic “Rainbow Platform by Ferragamo designed for Judy Garland in 1938; bold black and white leisure shoes worn by Hollywood actor Bela Lugosi; and a powerful timeline highlighting the highs and lows of the decade.Curated by the Bata Shoe Museum's Senior Curator Elizabeth Semmelhack, the exhibition includes artifacts from the Bata Shoe Museum’s permanent collection, as well as loans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, the Ferragamo Museum in Florence, and a personal collection of Shoe Icons from Moscow, according to the release.Click on the slideshow for a sneak peek at the collection of the Bata Shoe Museum. https://www.blouinartinfo.com/ Founder: Louise Blouin Read more
