Manolo Blahnik

Now available at a new price, this is the first comprehensive volume dedicated to documenting the influences and life work of Manolo Blahnik, one of the most influential and talked-about icons in contemporary fashion. Featuring more than forty years of shoe design, this is the definitive monograph of the work of Manolo Blahnik, one of the titans of contemporary fashion. Drawing inspiration from the worlds of architecture, art, film, and literature, Blahnik is a master of the art of the shoe. His exciting use of color, unprecedented designs, and exquisitely sculpted heels make his shoes some of the most coveted in the world. Featuring more than 250 iconic designs from his archive, the book reveals for the very first time the inspirations behind his singular artistic vision. This book is conceived as a comprehensive survey of Blahnik’s work and provides access to never- before-seen photography of his designs. With insightful chapters devoted to Blahnik’s most powerful relationships and inspirations—including Marie Antoinette, Diana Vreeland, Cecil Beaton, Spanish and Italian film, the works of Goya and Velázquez and the Prado Museum—this book is a personal look into the man behind the shoes. Beautiful photography and thoughtful essays and conversations by fashion writers, curators, and colleagues give readers a unique opportunity to access Blahnik’s vivid and creative world.

For many years Manolo Blahnik was the open secret of the fashion world, his shoes de rigueur for any stylish woman. Then, with Absolutely Fabulous and Sex in the City, he became world-famous to millions. In this fully authorized book, Colin McDowell uncovers the man behind the label.Blahnik claims that his decision to be a shoemaker was 'one of those accidents of life. I could just as well have been a milliner or a fashion designer'. His choices were wide but he chose shoemaking and started his highly successful business in 1972. From the beginning Blahnik's shoes reflected his style, wit and flair. He draws shoes with a verve that is uniquely his own, capturing their spirit and mood in a few deft lines. As a total perfectionist, Manolo Blahnik controls every process in the production of his shoes and still makes the last of every shoe in a collection with his own hands. He has made shoes for everyone from Bianca Jagger, Jerry Hall and Diana Ross to Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Victoria Beckham. His designs have been described by Madonna as 'wonderful - they last longer than sex'. He also creates shoes for many designers including John Galliano at Christian Dior and Oscar de la Renta. It is therefore of no surprise that the word 'Manolos' has become synonymous with the finest footwear in the world.Through his informative text Colin McDowell takes us into Blahnik's factory and homes to show us his life and his work and, combined with a stunning selection of photographs reveals this ultimate fashion icon as never seen before.

Through a playful series of alphabetical vignettes, Manolo Blahník reveals his ideas and inspirations in newly photographed examples of shoes and whimsical drawings. The shoes of Manolo Blahník have been called “magical totems of success and femininity” (The Guardian) and boast a cult following of devotees the world over. With their sleek elegance and distinctive fashion edge, “Manolos” are at once fascinating and timeless, their design a beautiful combination of chic, playfulness, and flair. This book explores the creativity and influences of this modern master through an alphabetical chronicle of the designer’s loves and inspiration. Blahník’s alphabet gives insight into the art and craftsmanship of shoemaking and includes whimsical musings on his relationships with figures such as Anna Piaggi, Loulou de la Falaise, and Diana Vreeland; the inspiration he draws from works by Goya, Zurbarán, Picasso, Barbara Hepworth, and Zaha Hadid; and his admiration for fellow designers such as Azzedine Alaïa, Balenciaga, and Yves Saint Laurent. These highly personal anecdotes—drawn from conversations between Blahník and the author and accompanied by original sketches and new photography—offer the reader a rare opportunity to learn the vision behind the shoes as told by a fashion legend. The book— which will accompany a traveling global exhibition— is introduced by an illustrated essay, which describes the designer’s illustrious forty-five-year career in the fashion industry.

Fashion's leading shoemaker, Manolo Blahnik is one of the handful of designers whose name is synonymous with their product. His success has lasted from setting up as a shoe designer in a Chelsea boutique in the 1970s to the present day, with American Vogue's Anna Wintour declaring 'The truth is, I wear no other shoes except his'. Blahnik has collaborated with many leading fashion designers – from Ossie Clark at the start of his career and John Galliano at Dior at its height – but Blahnik's greatest achievement is to have made footwear, previously subservient to the overall concept of a look, the most important of all accessories. His many covers and features in the pages of Vogue reveal that wearing a pair of 'Manolos' is to be utterly transformed; in Blahnik's dreamy, handmade creations, a woman can reinvent her personality. She is a Lolita in his Mary-Janes and a red carpet diva in his satin mules.

This book is organised thematically to express Manolo Blahnik's interests and passions - art history, architecture, film, including his renowned designs for Sofia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette, theatre and flora and fauna.

Blahnik by Boman is a brilliant photographic collaboration between shoe designer extraordinaire Manolo Blahnik and his close friend, photographer Eric Boman. In over 160 photographs, Blahnik's exquisite, luxurious and impossibly sexy shoes take centre stage in a dazzling array of settings, perfectly set off by Boman's unerring eye and uncanny empathy with Blahnik's creations. Almost as covetable as a pair of Manolos, this is a beautifully produced book of consummate creativity, addictive power and unrivailed individuality.

Long before their supporting role in Sex and the City, Manolo Blahnik's shoes were legendary—exquisitely detailed, unabashedly luxurious, and impossibly sexy. The epitome of sophistication and taste, they have graced the feet of royalty, supermodels, and movie stars. In these breathtaking pictures by Blahnik's longtime friend, photographer Eric Boman, the shoes take center stage in a dazzling array of intriguing and often lighthearted scenes and settings. A white leather stiletto plays an incriminating role in a suggested crime worthy of Hitchcock. A pale green mule nestles among ferns in homage to Blahnik's recurring botanical themes. The straps of a sandal echo the strands of spaghetti in which it lays entwined. Boman's unerring eye and oddly keen understanding of Blahnik's creations make for spellbinding pictures, full of wit, playfulness, and sole. Elegant allusions to Blahnik's eclectic influences abound—from the cinema to history, from the natural world to art and literature. As covetable as a pair of Manolos, this is a book of consummate creativity, addictive power, and unrivaled individuality: a cult object on a cult designer.

About the Fashion Fairy Tale Memoir Series Each book in this inspired series by fashion writer Camilla Morton inventively reimagines one of our favorite “Once Upon a Time” stories, blending it with the real-life story of a famed fashion designer. Lushly illustrated by the designers themselves, these tales illuminate each iconic individual’s creative magic while celebrating his unique life and career. The result is an intriguing combination of whimsy and memoir. In this contemporary twist on the tale of the Elves and the Shoemaker, Manolo BlahnÍk’s delightful drawings evoke the past, envision the future, and, of course, evidence the indelible footprint he’s made on fashion history. His illustrations take us from the banana plantations of his childhood to his current reign at the top of high-fashion footwear design, while playfully hinting at all the adventures he’s had and friends he’s met along the way.