The creator of women’s shoes Manolo Blahnik made his shoes the symbol of era. It is his brand that appears in cult series “Sex and the City”. The main character Cary Bradshaw, elegantly fluttering in shoes from famous designer, made fans of the film in the whole world to fall in love with them.
Childhood
Manuel Rodriguez Blahnik was born on November 28, 1942 on Canary Islands in international family of Czech and Spanish. His father ran banana plantation, and his mother shone at social events. Manolo with his sister Evangeline spent his childhood among palm trees and the sea, almost isolated from the rest of the world. In one of his interviews, he told that they had the only neighbor, only their grandfather, who lived in detached house: “It was heaven.”
Children grew up in love and severity. Father demanded that they were accurately combed for dinner. Such scrupulous attitude to appearance will subsequently affect the development of sense of style for future designer. Mother aristocrat subscribed to fashion magazines, which were delivered to their island across the Atlantic Ocean for months. My mother was passionate about creating prints and painted very well and it was customary to be interested in art in the house. She visited the shops of Paris several times per year. She brought new beautiful clothes for the whole family. The boy used to love fashion and was happy to try on clothes chosen by his mother. At that time, he has chosen for himself the clothes created by designer, Cristobal Balenciaga.
After the end of the Second World War, sewing industry was in crisis, there was not any new clothing items. Bored mother of Manuel entertained herself with manufacture of Catalan espadrilles, as she was taught by local master some time ago. The boy actively took part in this process. Many years later, when the name Manolo Blahnik became known to the public, the great designer will design his collections by listening to her opinion. But at that time the child was so interested in shoemaking process, he began to help the master, decorating espadrilles with coins, multi-colored stones and sea shells. He tried to make a pair of shoes for his tame monkey.
First steps
After graduating from school, Blahnik and his family moved to Geneva, where he entered the university in 1965 and studied law. Parents wished his son career of diplomat, but he chose different path. By being interested in literature and architecture Manolo began to study at School of Fine Arts in Paris. There he got a job in shop selling vintage dresses. With the support of his father, young man in 1968 enrolled in linguistic college in British capital and is diligently improving his English. In his free time he visits cinemas, writes articles for Italian Vogue. Concurrently Blahnik works as seller in fashion stores and draws sketches of clothes.
Since 1971, Manolo has lived in the heart of America – New York. He was friend with Paloma the daughter of Pablo Picasso. Thanks to her, designer gets acquainted with Diana Vreeland, who was the chief editor of American Vogue. Diana studied the work of artist, focusing on shoe line. She liked the model of shoes that delicately interwoven ankle with ivy and cherry sprays. The editor recommended the young man to design shoes.
In 1972, Blahnik again moved to England. He developed collection of shoes for women and shop in Chelsea will take it for sale. Critics and celebrities appreciated the novelties of young designer, and Ossi Clark soon will offer him cooperation. In 1973, Manolo, being the designer of British brand “Zapata” became its owner.
Evangeline’s sister will be partner of Blahnik. Among their regular customers were Bianca Jagger, Charlotte Rampling, Jane Birkin. He made strong friendship with many of them so, Bianca invited him to become the godfather for her daughter. Celebrities bought up shoes and Blahnik started to work in parallel with fashion houses Calvin Klein, Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano.
In a moment, he gained popularity, which he did not dare even to dream about several years ago. It is worthy to note that the first collection almost became the failure in career of designer. The fact is that during manufacture of his first collection, he forgot one important detail – to strengthen the heel. The back of shoes simply bent under the weight of its mistress. But the shoes turned out to be so original and luxurious that clients and critics unanimously forgave the creator such serious oversight. Another interesting fact of Manolo’s life is that he became the first man whose portrait appeared on the cover of English Magazine «Vogue».
In the late 1970s, the designer set as his goal to take leading position in the market of the USA. Famous department stores «Bloomingdales» and «Perry Ellis» started to acquire his collections. By 1980, the first registered boutique Manolo was opened on Madison Avenue. He masterfully combines in his shoes the features inherent in avant-garde and classics.
It was important for him to make high-quality and beautiful shoes for customers. Women abandoned outdated platforms for elegant heels and extravagant details. At that time, the designer invented shoes, the silhouette of which resembled mule, and in a moment they gained wild popularity.
At the pinnacle of fashion
Nowadays Manolo Blahnik is considered to be one of the most famous brand in its segment. Manolo never trusted others with preparing sketches and he draws models of future shoes himself. The production mainly consists of hand work, so it is not so easy to buy the shoes.
In interview, Manolo emphasizes that shoes complement woman, with the help of heels she becomes more seductive. The designer asserted more than once, that woman in high heels is comparable to the theatrical performance.
Blahnik believes that in really good shoes you want not just to dance, but to live in them all your life. Therefore, the quality of his shoes favorably differs from those that mass market offers.
Having created the sketch, designer independently prepares shoetree according to it, selects material and accessories. And only after all these processes mass production starts. To become the owner of certain pair, woman will have to make an effort – as each model is produced with minimum number of copies. He controls every process of his factory by creating shoes as an art.
By pushing out the platform with heels from fashionable Olympus, Manolo took a risk. Production threatened to be unprofitable, because shoes with platform were in demand. However, he managed to put elegant shoes on the podium of classics. As an evidence can serve the fact that fashion models defiled in his shoes on the catwalks of leading fashion houses in the 1980s.
The creator of women’s shoes Manolo Blahnik received many awards. His works took deserved place in London Museum of Design. The master was awarded Order for his art work and development of fashion industry in England.
The name of brand is mainly associated with popular series, telling about the life of four American women. Due to the fact that main character was fan of Manolo Blahnik, his shoes were showed up in more than one episode and were nicknamed «five star». This is not only time that shoes of famous designer were chosen by authors of film industry. Manolo collaborated with Sofia Coppolo during the filming of “Marie Antoinette”. It is worthy to note, that the film received deserved Oscar in nomination for the best costumes.
Now brand’s shoe collections are made in several factories. Each has definite specialization – classics, high fashion, sportswear and for everyday use. Production in Italian city of Parabiago has very modest volumes comparing to competitors – only one hundred pairs in 24 hours. There strict control reigns, and each pair is brought to perfection. Highly skilled workers help the maestro to produce exclusive shoes. They are expensive shoes and at the same time the price is fair. Only the best materials are used in manufacture, which guarantee the long-term wearing of each pair.
In 2019, Art Museum of the London opened Manolo Blahnik exhibition for art lovers and his fans. More than 160 pairs of women’s shoes occupied ten halls, divided by style and theme.
We differentiate the original from fake
The masterpieces of talented Manolo Blahnik became desirable for women from the first days. Models are exclusive and it is not easy to find them on free sale. Original shoes have high price, therefore not everyone can afford them. Unscrupulous fake manufacturers take advantage of this circumstance.
You can differentiate original shoes from fake by several criteria:
1. There is always logo on the insoles, letters are made in the same style and color gamma. An exception is
Carolyne model, where the word “Manolo” is painted in blue and “Blahnik” in black.
2. High quality of shoes are guaranteed due to the usage of genuine leather in manufacture of insoles and soles.
3. Brand never labels its shoes with serial numbers, that you can not say about fake manufacturers.
4. Models with brooches are decorated with Swarovski crystals. These accessories are copied most often, but only
an expert can confirm the authenticity of stones.
5. Blahnik factory shoes are expensive. Their price starts at 400 $. For example, the shoes that Keri Bradshaw
wore in famous series cost 1,000 $.
Recognizable style
The art work of Manolo, like any artist, has his own style. His shoes are both elegant and original. In collection lines you can see following main features:
1. Maestro loves to use neon colors, rich decoration with crystals. He uses unusual prints, combining all this
wealth with lace trim.
2. Vegetative plots are chosen as decorative elements.
3. Pumps are in classic and bright colors.
Flat shoes also have characteristic features, combination of flat sole with pointed nose and decorated in the same way as shoes. Autumn-winter boots are often made without heels and in universal shades.
The creator of women’s shoes, Manolo Blahnik, opened boutiques in Russia, the United States, the capitals of Asia, Turkey and Dubai. Online store has been launched, which makes the purchase of precious pair a little easier. The designer is faithful to his style and his shoes can be boldly presented as the standard of high quality.
