Manolo Blahnik spent his childhood in the Canary Islands. The mother of Manolo Blahnik was a fashion-minded Spanish who liked to read Glamour and Vogue, so the boy inherited her passion for clothing and shoes from her. Later, when he created new collections, he was always interested in her opinion. Manolo grew up among banana plantations owned by his parents and knew nothing about world of fashion at that time. Much attention was paid to his education. He watched the films of Cocteau and Visconti, studied art, enjoyed the paintings of Velazquez and El Greco.
The parents purchased clothes from famous tailors of Paris and Madrid and Manolo spent much time in a fitting-room with pleasure. He started creating shoes when he was a boy. Manolo helped local cobbler to make traditional Catalan espadrilles. He liked how shoes were born of ribbons and laces. He did not only watch the process but was involved into it. His first shoes were created at that time. Common espadrilles turned into uniquely designed with his help. Manolo decorated them with all kinds of stones, shells, bits of glass and coins.
He decided to make shoes for women only as it was more complicated and challenging process. Manolo Blahnick revealed his talent fully after he opened the first boutique in 1972. His shoes feature refinement, sexuality, sophistication and complexity of design.
“It took many years to understand how to make beautiful and technically perfect shoes”, – says Manolo. Manolo never studied the technology of production. He never needed assistants as well. His incredible love for work and energy brought him to success. He creates unusual, stylistically innovative and original shoes. The idea to revive the sleek stiletto heel in ’70-s also belongs to Manolo Blahnik. Millions of women around the world acquire such elegant and sexy shoes. The design has become classic since then. Lightness and femininity are two priorities of Manolo Blahnik. Many celebrities became the followers of the brand. A pair of Manolo’s was named after Sarah Jessica Parker. She is the biggest Manolo’s fan. The brand was even mentioned in the show “Sex and the City”. Madonna once said that Manolo shoes are “better than sex”. “What’s more, they last longer” – added the pop star. The list of celebs who love Manolo’s include Princess Diana, Kate Moss, Bianca Jagger, Diana Ross, Naomi Campbell, Jerry Hall, Kylie Minogue and many others.
He never planned mass production or creation of more affordable products. Manolo Blahnik personally creates the design of each model and hand-crafts the shoes. Carving the wood, he hand sculpts the shoe. This is the most complicated stage of work that determines the quality of future shoes. After the material and color is selected, the sample is sent to the factory in Parabiago, which makes just 80 pairs of shoes daily. The production is limited and styles are kept in small exclusive numbers. Manolo Blahnick always keeps every one of created designs. This huge collection has exceeded 25,000 shoes already and continues to grow.
Maestro strictly oversees all stages of production. Each shoe must be an exact copy of original one.
Manolo Blahnick creates shoes for women who always want to look great. He does not chase fashion and tries to create timeless masterpieces, which never go out of fashion.
