Published
October 2, 2026
A storied American footwear house, Herbert Levine, is being revived with Italian–American capital and expertise. Founded in 1948 by Beth and Herbert Levine (she the designer; he, her husband, the commercial mind), the house reached the height of its success in the 1950s and 1960s, gracing the feet of the most famous actresses, artists, entertainers and members of the jet set – in New York and beyond – before ceasing operations in 1976. The relaunch is very recent, thanks to private investment firm Luvanis, current CEO Gianfranco Maccarrone and entrepreneur Massimo Bonini, owner of the prestigious Milanese showroom that bears his name, where the second collection of Herbert Levine’s new chapter was unveiled.
It is designed by creative director Trevor Houston, formerly a footwear designer at The Row, “whom, as we learned from an interview in a trade magazine, is a major collector of Herbert Levine shoes and draws inspiration from them in his work,” CEO Maccarrone (former chief executive of Dsquared2) told FashionNetwork.com.
“We were fortunate enough to discover the brand and to take it into our hands, and we felt that Trevor was the ideal person to lead this project creatively.”
Herbert Levine, Spring–Summer 2027 – G.B. – FNW
Three partners now steer Herbert Levine: Massimo Bonini, who oversees distribution and production; Gianfranco Maccarrone, who runs the company; and Arnaud de Lummen, “the man who held the brand, having personally acquired the intellectual property rights and registered trademarks over fifteen years ago, and who also created a private archive by purchasing around 200 pairs of vintage shoes, making him one of the world’s leading collectors of Herbert Levine designs,” explained Maccarrone.
Together with his father, Guy, Arnaud de Lummen founded the investment company Luvanis in 2009, a holding specialising in reviving and relaunching historic luxury brands that had become ‘dormant’ (as in the cases of Moynat and Paul Poiret).
“We asked him to entrust us with the Herbert Levine brand, and we are designing it, developing it and trying to bring it back to market in the best possible way,” added Maccarrone.
“It’s now as if we were an independent maison with our own highly selective distribution, benefiting from Massimo Bonini’s extensive network. The best a start-up could hope for today.”
All Herbert Levine footwear is made from Italian materials, processed in Italian tanneries, with production in the Marche region.
“In essence, the brand is born of a New York/American mindset but is 100 per cent Made in Italy, and distributed with a well-planned and organised Italian approach,” stressed the CEO of Herbert Levine, who has just launched the e-commerce site in July and boasts a shop-in-shop at Le Bon Marché in Paris, as well as being stocked at Selfridges, Harrods, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom, with further roll-outs already under way in the Middle East, Japan and China.
“Our distribution is very targeted, yet global. We are considering opening further shop-in-shops and hope soon to find the right location for our first standalone boutique,” revealed Maccarrone.
Beth and Herbert Levine – Herbert Levine website
“In fact, the brand should have been called Beth Levine, because she was the creative force, while her husband handled the finances and served as chief executive officer; but it was a time when brands were preferably not named after a woman. Fortunately, times have changed,” noted the Italian CEO. “Meanwhile, it’s important to know that we have numerous references from the early period to draw upon, as the most important historical archive of Herbert Levine is held by the Met – the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (another significant archive is located at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto). Alongside Roger Vivier, it is the footwear brand with the largest number of references preserved within the Met.”
For precisely this reason, designer Trevor Houston decided to pay tribute to Beth Levine’s memory and talent, with ‘Beth Levine’ printed on the insole of one shoe and ‘Herbert Levine’ on the other in many of the brand’s styles (though not all; this is at the designer’s discretion and instinct).
“Beth Levine was an art collector; she loved beauty. She was one of the most elegant women in New York. She was the one who elevated the boot to a fashion statement rather than merely a utilitarian item, to the point that Saks in New York had a shop called Beth’s Bootery selling only Herbert Levine boots, while her stocking boots were ahead of their time. So there’s this whole world of beauty, always linked to her, that we wanted to channel into the new creations and the showroom presentation,” added Giorgia Bonini, Massimo’s daughter and chief brand officer at Herbert Levine.
The young second-generation executive divides her time between Milan and New York, where the brand is based and where Trevor Houston works. “I handle strategy and brand image, and I help Trevor with the product,” she confirmed.
“Among our initial retail partners are Mytheresa online, Antonia in Milan, Luisa World in Greece and Boontheshop in South Korea – in short, selected boutiques around the world.”
Herbert Levine, Spring–Summer 2027 – G.B. – FNW
The inspiration for Herbert Levine’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection was sparked by Jacques Demy’s 1963 film “La Baie des Anges” (Bay of Angels), starring Jeanne Moreau, who wears Pierre Cardin throughout and plays a captivating compulsive gambler who lives out a tormented love affair among the casinos of the Baie des Anges, between Nice and Cap d’Antibes, with a young man whose money she steals to keep playing roulette. “She is beautiful, platinum-haired, super glamorous. So she inspired the theme of gambling, which unites all cultures. Hence the appearance of numbers set like the pips on playing cards, and dice as a decorative element, in these high-end shoes at a designer price point ranging from 700 to 1,500 euros,” said Houston.
Standout pieces in this new offering include the vintage-spirited ‘Lady Luck’ heel, the ‘Sitting Pretty’ mule and the ‘Jude’ boot, which join the fisherman sandal ‘The Catch’, already proposed in the 2025 relaunch collection, rich in elements of the brand’s history and heritage.
“I’ve always collected vintage footwear, particularly Herbert Levine designs, and also those created by Beth Levine before she worked for Herbert Levine, because I believe the past truly foreshadows the future,” Houston continued. “The reason I wanted Beth’s name printed on some styles (and it’s happening more and more) is that I think it’s important to remember the creative spirit behind this whole project, and because times have changed. Beth and Herbert worked together; she, too, deserves to be credited, and the two of them together as a couple deserve credit as well.”
Herbert Levine’s style – Herbert Levine website
“Jeanne Moreau in Bay of Angels gave me the first impetus to design the collection, but then I looked at a work by Sophie Calle, the French installation artist, featuring a die at its centre, referring to when her boyfriend left her; from that moment she decided to roll the dice to make decisions instead of asking someone else,” explained Houston.
“I thought about games and about using symbols from poker, chess and briscola – all those games almost everyone knows, which exist culturally everywhere.”
“From my previous experience at The Row, I’ve certainly brought an eye for quality and artisanal finishing, and a command of how to use and line materials,” said the designer, who has also worked for Marc Jacobs, Coach and Tory Burch and was head of footwear at Khaite.
“I’ve learnt to work with factories to teach them how to do things differently in order to achieve a genuinely new kind of style – almost simple, yet comfortable and refined. It’s a construction-led approach with a great deal of striving for simplicity, while taking care not to make stylistic missteps with the line or with the support of the materials.”
In short, a great deal of technique – and the passion Houston has poured into these shoes is unmistakable.
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