Red and white high top sneakers worn by Melvin Van Peebles: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A pair of white, red, and black leather high top Pony City Wings sneakers. White leather is used for the rounded toe box, the quarter, and the sock lining. The tip, vamp, collar, and heel are made from red leather. The heel also has black leather and there is a chevron on the quarter of the shoe, made from black leather. There’s perforation on the white leather toe box and the shoes fasten at the center front with white cotton laces strung through eight sets of metal grommet holes. Stamped in black on each side of the ankle (collar) is the logo for City Wings; a partial circle with the text [CITY WINGS] inside and a graphic of a high-top shoe flying through clouds below, all in black ink. The same logo is stamped on the top of the tongues. [PONY], the designer’s name is vertically embroidered in black on the back of each heel. The shoes feature off-white rubber soles with a red and black tread pattern at each shoe bottom. White leather material lines the insides and the inside of the tongue reads [PONY NAME AND / CHEVRON DESIGN / IS A PROPRIETARY / TRADEMARK / OWNED BY PONY / INTERNATIONAL, LLC] in black embroidered text.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1986
• Created by: Pony, American, founded 1972
• Subject of: Melvin Van Peebles, American, 1932 - 2021
• Type: sneakers
• Type: athletic shoes
• Type: shoes (footwear)
• Medium: leather, rubber, cotton, and metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D (a - left shoe): 6 1/8 × 4 5/16 × 11 3/4 in. (15.6 × 11 × 29.8 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (b - right shoe): 6 3/16 × 4 3/16 × 11 3/4 in. (15.7 × 10.7 × 29.8 cm)
• Place made: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Black Enterprise
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Fashion design
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Musicians
• Object number: 2024.60.19ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No known copyright restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.