I. Miller

American, established 1911

LocationNew York City, New York, United States

BiographyIsrael Miller started his career as a designer and maker of shoes for the theatrical profession in New York. He established the I. Miller Shoe Company, which not only designed and manufactured women’s shoes, but became a leading importer of shoes with a national chain of over 200 retail stores, which were active throughout the 1920s-1960s.

Miller took over a large building in Times Square which he had remodeled in 1926 by architect Louis H. Friedland. The decorative sculpture on the building’s façade, by sculptor Alexander Stirling Calder, was a tribute to the theatrical profession with statues depicting Ethel Barrymore as Ophelia (drama), Marilyn Miller as Sunny (musical comedy), Rosa Ponselle as Norma (opera), and Mary Pickford as Little Lord Fauntleroy (film). Miller also included an inscription beneath the cornice that reads “The Show Folks Shoe Shop Dedicated To Beauty In Footwear.”

In the mid 1950’s the I. Miller Shoe Company hired artist Andy Warhol on a retainer as their chief illustrator, which provided the revitalization it badly needed. Warhol, who was a commercial illustrator prior to becoming a pop artist, was also doing advertising work for Tiffany & Co. and Henry Bendel at the time.

http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/d/dhhcc/bios/millershoes.html

Person TypeCorporate Body