Ensemble

Title: Ensemble
date created: spring/summer 1994
designer: Byron Lars (American, born 1965)
has culture: United States
material: silk (textile); synthetic; metal; leather; wood
description: This "trompe-l'oeil" (a French phrase meaning "deceive the eye") platform shoe is meant to resemble a tabi, a Japanese sock with a split toe. The white leather boot resembles a foot wearing a tabi, while the black strap and wooden sole imitate a geta, a traditional wooden sandal. Designer Byron Lars created this appropriative design in the 1990s, alluding to traditional Japanese footwear and 1970s-style platform heels.
subjects/references: Geta footwear; Tabi; 1970s Platform shoes; The Tabi Shoe in Western Fashion
collection: Metropolitan Museum of Art; View on Met Website
accession number: 1997.246a–d