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

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

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.

Beginnings

She was born as Elizabeth Katz in

Patchogue, New York Patchogue ( ) is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 12,408 at the time of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Patchogue is an incorporated community in the Town (New ...

, the third of five children of Anna and Israel Katz,

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n Jewish emigrants who operated a dairy farm. In the 1930s, she moved to Manhattan and found work as a shoe model, then worked her way up from a stylist to head designer for I. Miller. She served as a

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

volunteer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Design career

Beth Levine met Herbert Levine when she applied for a job designing shoes for another shoe manufacturer in 1944, and married him three months later. In 1948, they founded the Herbert Levine label together. Beth Levine's greatest influence is considered to be the re-introduction of

boot A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...

s to women's

fashion Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

in the 1960s and the popularization of the shoe style known as mules. When

Nancy Sinatra Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer, actress, film producer and author. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato) and is known for her 1965 signature hit " These Boots Are Made for Walki ...

wore Levine boots in publicity shots for the 1960s hit song "

These Boots Are Made for Walkin' "These Boots Are Made for Walkin' is a hit song written by Lee Hazlewood and recorded by American singer Nancy Sinatra. It charted on January 22, 1966, and reached No.1 in the United States ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and in the UK Singles Chart. ...

", demand for fashion boots leaped so much that

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain founded in 1867 by Andrew Saks. The first store opened in the F Street and 7th Street shopping districts, F Street shopping distric ...

opened a special section its shoe department called "Beth's Bootery". Levine was hired in 1965, along with famed couturier

Emilio Pucci Emilio Pucci, Marchese di Barsento (; 20 November 1914 – 29 November 1992) was an Italian Marquess, aristocrat, fashion designer and politician. He and his eponymous company Pucci designed geometric prints in many colors. Early life Pucci wa ...

and designer Alexander Girard, to help overhaul a new look and style for

Braniff International Airways Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until the cessation of air operations, was an American airline that operated from 1928 until 1982 and continues to ...

. The campaign, developed by Jack Tinker and Partner's

Mary Wells Lawrence Mary Georgene Wells Lawrence (née Berg; May 25, 1928 – May 11, 2024) was an American advertising executive. She was the founding president of Wells, Rich, Greene, an advertising agency known for its creative work. She was the first female CEO ...

, 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 Herbert Levine label include boots as

Haute Couture (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design. The term ''haute couture'' generally refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the ...

, "Spring-o-lator" mules (where an

elastic Elastic is a word often used to describe or identify certain types of elastomer, Elastic (notion), elastic used in garments or stretch fabric, stretchable fabrics. Elastic may also refer to: Alternative name * Rubber band, ring-shaped band of rub ...

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. Beth was an early feminist in the fashion industry.

Awards

Beth Levine was awarded the

Coty Award The Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards (awarded 1943–1984) were created in 1942 by the cosmetics and perfume company Coty to promote and celebrate American fashion, and encourage design during the Second World War. In 1985, the Coty Awards we ...

in 1967 for design innovation.

Collections

Levine's designs are included in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

Death

Beth Levine died in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

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.

References

External links

Beth Levine Shoes historical website
*

Braniff Flying Colors historical page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levine, Beth 1914 births 2006 deaths American businesspeople in fashion American fashion designers American women fashion designers American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) Designers from Manhattan People from Patchogue, New York Shoe designers 20th-century American women 20th-century American people 21st-century American women