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The name Manolo Blahnik has become synonymous with footwear that is sexy, stylish and sought after by anyone who is anyone. Women all over the globe flock to stores to buy the adored shoe designs of Manolo Blahnik. They are the shoes of choice for such big names as Madonna and actress Sarah Jessica Parker of Sex and the City fame, as well as many supermodels and movie starlets. It was during the 1970s and 1980s that the incredible shoe designs of Manolo Blahnik started to become known in the world of high fashion. In the early 1990s millions of television viewers cam to know the name of Manolo Blahnik due to a British comedy called Absolutely Fabulous. By the late 1990s the popular HBO series Sex and the City made more inroads for this up and coming shoe designer as the main character of the show, a sex columnist named Carrie Bradshaw (played by none other than the incredibly talented Sarah Jessica Parker) was also shoe obsessed with her many pairs of Manolo Blahniks. Carrie loved her Manolos like some women love chocolate.

The innovative creations of Manolo Blahnik have amazing panache and scream sex appeal like no other design of shoes does. The shoes he designs are inspired by a number of sources that range from interesting points of architecture to films that are memorable. Other strong influences to his work include Jean-Luc Goddard, Francois Tuffaut, Pedro Almodovar and the Frank Gehry Building.

Manolo Blahnik has reached international acclaim and currently lives in a stately Georgian home in Bath, England. In fitting style, Blahnik lives with a collection of 10,000 pairs of shoes that he laughingly describes as his stupid shoes. Blahnik is very much a part of every pair of shoes he designs. He still conscientiously crafts each individual shoe himself and every pair must live up to his incredibly high standards. Each shoe is designed to a European size 37 (or a British size 5) and scaled to sizes 35 to 40. Each new season 250 prototypes are created in one of four small factories on the outskirts of the city of Milan, but only an exclusive 85 styles are chosen to appear in each finished collection.

Background of Manolo Blahnik

Manolo Blahnik came into the world on November 28 in the year 1942 in Santa Cruz de la Palma in the Canary Islands. He was born to a mother who is Spanish and a Czech father. Manolo and his sister Evangelina grew up on the banana plantation where the Blahnik family lived. Their mother home schooled both of the youngsters. The Blahnik family frequently traveled to both Paris and Madrid, where his mother bought clothes from her favorite clothing designers while his father visited the tailors in those cities. Young Manolo Blahnik grew used to the sight of beautiful clothing. As well he received an early education in the art of shoemaking by observing his mother making her own footwear, using lace and ribbon. It was his mother who was his very first inspiration.

Both his mother and father hoped that their son Manolo would become a diplomat, but after only one semester at the University of Geneva studying both politics and law, Manolo transferred into literature and architecture. In 1965, Manolo relocated to Paris to study art and stage design at Lecole des Beaux-Arts and the Louvre Art School, during which time he was also employed at a vintage clothing store near Saint German des Pres.

Manolo Blahnik moved to London in the year 1970, wanting to improve upon his command of the English language. Once there he found employment in a clothing boutique and he also became a photographer for The Sunday Times, and fast became a part of the stylish and fashionable art scene.

The start of a career in shoes

Interestingly enough, despite his incredible talent for shoemaking, Manolo Blahnik was never formally trained in the craft. For the past three decades he has been designing the most sought-after line of designer footwear the world over. It was during a meeting with then editor of U.S. Vogue, Diana Vreeland in 1971 that Manolo Blahnik was persuaded to go into shoe design based solely on his creative and imaginative as well as very impressive, shoe sketches. He decided to take the advice he was given and thus began his education in the art of designing shoes.

Initially Manolo Blahnik began designing shoes for men at a Chelsea Boutique called Zapata but he did not find the world of mens shoes challenging or stimulating enough so he decided to make the switch to designing shoes for women instead, hoping it would be more his niche in fashion. It was as he took to designing shoes for women with a flare. After only one year had gone by, Blahnik was invited to collaborate with the flamboyant and talented fashion designer Ossie Clark to design shoes for his runway show.

It took only a short period of time before the creations of Manolo Blahnik became all the rage in the fashion world. Suddenly everyone wanted to own a pair of Manolo Blahnik originals, including Hollywood actress Lauren Bacall. In 1973, Manolo Blahnik got a small loan from a bank and bought out the owner of Zapata. Him and his sister then set about developing a design business of their own. Manolo Blahnik was the very first man to appear on the cover of the magazine British Vogue. He did so alongside actress Angelica Huston in 1974.

Breaking into the American market

The big break for Manolo Blahnik in the United States took place in the year 1978 when he launched his shoe collection for the well-known store Bloomingdales. In 1979 he opened his very first American shop in New York City on Madison Avenue. In 1980 Blahnik designed shoes for the designer Perry Ellis. In the United States his shoe sales began to soar after he made the decision to hire a man by the name of George Malkemus who was a copywriter working in the marketing department of Bergdorf Goodman, to be his partner. The year was 1982. While Manolo and his sister Evangelina continued to be in charge of the European side of the business, it was Malkemus who renegotiated the existing distribution agreements that Blahnik had with the United States.

Getting bigger all the time

Manolo Blahnik was invited to design shoes for Calvin Klein and his ready-to-wear collections in 1984. The experience working alongside Klein taught him a tremendous amount about designing shoes for a much wider and emerging market. He collaborated with fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi in the year 1988 and then in 1991 the very first Manolo Blahnik shoe store opened its doors in Hong Kong.

In 1992 Manolo Blahnik was invited to designed shoes for the signature label for John Galliano. Throughout the 1990s he continued to collaborate with the top fashion designers of the day including Caroline Herrara, Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta. In the year 1994 Manolo was honored to work with all three of the aforementioned designers in the same year. In 1997 Blahnik teamed up again with John Galliano for the first couture collection for Christian Dior.

The many awards of Manolo Blahnik

Manolo Blahnik and his heavenly shoe creations have won him praise and glory all over the globe as well as many illustrious awards. In the year 2000 he received the Nieman Marcus Award and then in 2001 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Royal College of Arts in London. At the same time Manolo Blahnik was also made an Honorary Royal Designer for Industry. As well in 2001 Blahnik received the Golden Needle award in Spain (also referred to as La Aguja de Oro) and in 2002, he received the prestigious Medalla de Oro en Merito en Bellas Artes. In the year 2003, Manolo Blahnik became the very first shoe designer to be honored with an exhibit of his own at the London Design Museum. This exhibit was a smashing success and ran from February until May of 2003. The wonders of his work are likely to keep Manolo Blahnik designing shoes for many years to come.