If the Shoe Fits

Manolo Blahnik – The unconventional tale of a shoemaker

“Bless the English for their taste for eccentricity, which gave this man a garden in which to bloom.” 

– Eric Boman, photographer

Manolo Blahnik, who has designed some of the most exquisite, fanciful shoes for a discerning clientele including Isabella Blow and Kate Moss as well as fictional characters like cinema’s Marie Antoinette and TV’s Carrie Bradshaw, is known for his rarefied, singular aesthetic. Perhaps that individuality comes from growing up on an island, which was, he says in a 2017 documentary, both “heaven” and “cut off from the world.” 

Blahnik was born to a Spanish mother and a Czech father on Santa Cruz de la Palma, the Spanish island belonging to the Canary Isles near Morocco. He grew up on a banana plantation belonging to his mother’s family, surrounded by palm trees, mountains, and the sea. Life was remarkably formal in the 1940s, including servants and an active social and cultural life. Fastidiousness in a person and in dress was instilled at an early age and has remained, not just because of a sense of pride in appearing well presented but also because it would be a discourtesy to others not to do so. 

Orientalia, Manolo Blahnik, 1986

Blahnik, by his parents, was expected to be one of the best-behaved, best-dressed children on the island. When they weren’t around, he loved catching lizards and carrying them in his pockets. They were everywhere on the island. He created dresses and shoes for them by wrapping silver-coloured chocolate paper around them, and also made shoes for his dog and pet monkey, while being obsessed with the Ballets Russes at the time (he referred to the animals as Diaghilev and Nijinsky – leading Ballets Russes dancers). It was all part of the fantasy world the young boy was creating. 

His parents were both Anglophiles in many ways, without realising it at the time. They read the Illustrated London News, and his father was obsessed with Winston Churchill’s speeches. A multicultural base – Mediterranean, southern Mediterranean, and British cultural references as well as an informal fusion of Spanish and Slav – would become crucially important to inform a layer of sophisticated knowledge and form Blahnik as a person. 

'Lorca', Manolo Blahnik, 2006

His mother, Manuela Rodriguez, loved fashion and ordered her clothes from Madrid or Galeries Lafayette in Paris, but this was brought to a halt during World War II. The only fashionable magazine available was US Vogue, providing inspiration for local seamstresses to make clothes for the family. Shoes were much more of a challenge. Young Manolo would watch his mother with a hammer and nails, covering her shoes with fabrics like chiffon and silk, a skill she had learnt from their local cobbler Don Cristino.  

At the age of 15, he was sent to Switzerland at his father Enan Blahnik’s wish, first to a Swiss boarding school then to study international law at the University of Geneva, which included medical law. But after having to visit a hospital and watch an autopsy, Blahnik decided that the idea was finished forever, as he almost fainted. The incident marked the end of any serious thoughts about a legal career. His father agreed to him switching to study the arts (international literature – English, French, Spanish, history of the arts) which were much more in tune with his instinctive interests. In the summers he worked for the UN and frequently visited Paris.  Upon finishing his studies in 1965, Blahnik moved to Paris to pursue further artistic studies, in particular to develop his skills in theatre design. There he enjoyed sketching set designs and perfecting his spoken French whilst paying frequent visits to London and eventually moving to England.  

'Ivy', 1971, Manolo Blahnik for Ossie Clarke

London in the 1970s was the perfect time for Blahnik to arrive with his handsome figure to the axis of youth and fashion between Carnaby Street in the West End and the King’s Road in Chelsea. On the back of the vibrant pop industry, fashion became an obsession for all classes, led by magazines that became the new tastemakers. He quickly became a personality in London’s social world, courted for his good looks, international sophistication, and extraordinary originality. “It was divine,” Blahnik said in Colin MacDowell’s biography. “I made marvelous friends. Some of my very best and long-lasting friends.” 

One of his friends, Paloma Picasso, introduced him to the legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland. In 1970, he went to New York for the first time to show her his drawing portfolio. Vreeland fixed her eye on a green suede high-heeled sandal decorated with ivy and cherries – a sketch for Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream – and famously told him to make shoes. The following year he created his first collection, for Ossie Clark, featuring that green “Ivy” sandal, tied around the ankle, with chunky high heels. However, he did not know that he should have embedded a steel shank in the rubber heels to make them safe for models. At the end of Clark’s fashion show, after the models had wobbled their way down the catwalk, Sir Cecil Beaton was reported as saying: “Oh my dear, this is a new way of walking.” 

'Gamochonia', 2000, Manolo Blahnik

One could say the rest is history. Blahnik opened his first shop in 1973 on Old Church Street in Kensington, off the King’s Road in London. He did not yet have a clientele and shared the street with a pastry shop. “We would have friends come in the afternoon and have tea and cakes from the shop next door,” he told WWD. 

Blahnik became one of the world’s most original shoe designers, respected and sold worldwide over the past five decades. Early designs like the “Brick” in the 1970s for Kansai Yamamoto with its platforms, the “Perry Ellis” with fur and toggles, the “Senso” with ottoman silk and gold beads, and the “Gamochonia” octopus design are just a few examples of his unparalleled imagination. His materials are luxurious and creative: crystal berries on the “Dile,” satin on “The Eternal Hepburn,” corals on the “Tortura,” silk rosettes on the “Palissot,” appliqued lace on the “Tarquinius,” and  the iconic pilgrims buckles on the “Hangisi” are balanced by aesthetics and aerodynamics on each design.

'Brick', 1971, Manolo Blahnik

Each last – the foot shaped mold that has been traditionally used to create shoes since ancient Greek and Roman times – is designed by Blahnik himself and then developed for production in a specialist factory. Pointed, almond, exaggerated, or square, Blahnik has continued to shape innovative forms which then are the basis for the materials and embellishments and the heel of the shoes. Lasts are used during the stitching process to ensure a correct fit. 

Blahnik feels happiest surrounded by artisans in the Italian factory near Milan, where all his shoes are made. Michael Roberts’ documentary shows him donning a white coat, greeting the artisans inside the factory, and going straight to work, shaping a heel. Every single shoe is still designed by himself alone, starting with a sketch and described not so much as fashion but a gesture. Each brush-like stroke with a Tombo Japanese brush pen embodies the creative imagination of the designer, accompanied by his unique handwritten notes. Illustrations such as the “Orientalia” with baroque pearls and semi precious stones, the “Lorca” with petals and carnations, the “Trianon” with its detailed embroidery, and the “Truca/Munda” with its satin stripes are works of art in their own right. 

'Trianon', 2020, Manolo Blahnik

These illustrations also make references to different times in history, various places in the world from the culture of Babylon and Egypt, to the ancient Greek culture from the time of Alexander the Great, to Nubia in Africa. Their spirit pays homage to artists like Henri Matisse, taking inspiration from the striking and avant-garde costumes and dance movements of the Ballet Russe. They are inspired by the 19th-century philosopher Ernst Heckel’s illustrations, and pay tribute to 18th-century painters and printmakers of the Spanish Court at the time of romanticism, to name a few. Some of his iconic designs are a love letter to favourite places such as Sicily and Capri, or inspired by his love of Africa. 

Blahnik’s evolution from designing foil shoes for lizards to celebrating his creative eye in his jewel-box boutiques all over the world exemplifies how his unconventional life led to something quite extraordinary. He is a rare example of originality that manages to combine many cultural influences, a business sense, passion, craftsmanship and imagination while embodying the timeless message that there still is a certain dignity and pride in things well made that take time. That originality matters. 

His advice for the young generation? As he told Wallpaper, “The only thing you need is passion.” 

. . .

Written by Barbara Mathews 

Illustration Images are copyright to Manolo Blahnik

Lead: Sensi, 1998, Manolo Blahnik