Manolo Blahnik Mauve Crocodile Pumps
View Similar Items
Manolo Blahnik Mauve Crocodile Pumps
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Height: 3.5 in (8.89 cm)Marked Size: 38 (EU)
- Place of Origin:Italy
- Period:
- Material Notes:Crocodile
- Condition:New.
- Seller Location:San Francisco, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: AU130318348264
Manolo Blahnik
There may be no designer with as wide a breadth of references as the fashion and footwear icon Manolo Blahnik, whose stated sources of inspiration for the creation of his sublime shoes include — but are not limited to — Diana Vreeland, ancient Greece, 21st-century architecture, Spanish cinema and Piet Mondrian.
It’s a fittingly robust list for someone who has spent a lifetime in the self-described “pursuit of beauty.”
Born in 1942 in Spain’s Canary Islands, Blahnik had an early exposure to shoemaking: During World War II, his designer-shoe-loving mother enlisted a local cobbler to teach her to make her own footwear from available materials. The young Blahnik was intrigued.
After briefly studying law in Switzerland with the intention of becoming a diplomat, Blahnik moved to Paris, where he took a job in a vintage clothing shop while studying art at École des Beaux-Arts as well as set design at the art school of the Louvre. It wasn’t until years later, however, that he would realize his calling as a shoe designer. In the late 1960s, Blahnik relocated to London, where he worked for both the Sunday Times and Vogue. In the early 1970s, the renowned American Vogue editor Diana Vreeland saw his sketches and urged him to pursue footwear.
After a debut collection for celebrated fashion designer Ossie Clark — featuring models that Blahnik had gotten to know through his work in the fashion industry, among them Twiggy — received acclaim, he created footwear for illustrious dressmaker Jean Muir and apprenticed with professional shoemakers in London to perfect his craft. By 1973 he had bought out the shoe boutique Zapata and made it his own. Bloomingdale’s introduced him to the American market with a collection a few years later.
Vintage Manolo Blahnik shoes are famous for their theatricality, as the designer is well known for the whimsical, fantastical elements he brings to footwear, often in an explosive palette. “I have always approached color in a bold way, from all angles and variations,” he once said. “Always searching for the poetry of an impossible color.” Tack on teetering height as a trademark that took shape from early on.
“Those poor girls couldn’t walk properly, but people loved it,” the designer recalled of his early models. “Sir Cecil Beaton said to me, ‘Is this a new way of walking?’” To take it from pop culture, it indeed might have been: People are still talking about the night that Bianca Jagger dazzled, horseback, at Studio 54 in a Halston dress and Blahnik shoes on her 30th birthday, and, decades later, the footwear icon was rendered a household name during the long-running television series Sex and the City.
Today, Manolo Blahnik remains a virtual synonym for luxury shoes. Find a range of his footwear and handbags on 1stDibs.
- Stuart Weitzman Shoes Vintage Floral Print Fabric Peep-Toe Heels With Bow Size 7By Stuart WeitzmanLocated in Portland, ORThese are the cutest peep-toe Vintage shoes from Stuart Weitzman for Mr. Seymour! These fabulous 1980's shoes are so unique with their bold red, green, blue and yellow floral print f...Category
1980s Italian Shoes
- Lanvin grey suede rose gold leather loafers NWOTBy Lanvin ParisLocated in Capri, ITLanvin grey suede rose gold leather loafers NWOT size 41 size 9Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Shoes
- Grey suede stiletto with mohair bow Nina RicciBy Nina RicciLocated in Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, FRGrey suede stiletto with mohair bowCategory
Early 2000s Italian Shoes
- Grey sued stiletto with blue lezard platform Nina RicciBy Nina RicciLocated in Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, FRGrey sued stiletto with blue lezard platformCategory
Early 2000s Italian Shoes
- F/W 2002 Gucci by Tom Ford Lavender Alligator 4.25" HeelsBy Tom Ford for Gucci, GucciLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting Tom Ford designs these power heels for Gucci’s Fall/Winter 2002 collection. A similar brown pair lives in fashion infamy and was carried by Michelle De...Category
Early 2000s Italian Shoes
- S/S 1998 Gucci by Tom Ford Green Alligator Crystal G Square Toe Kitten Heels NWTBy Gucci, Tom Ford for GucciLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting absolutely iconic, these heels were designed by Tom Ford during his time as the creative director of Gucci for the S/S 1998 collection. The small/kitten heels feature a po...Category
1990s Italian Shoes