Manolo Blahnik 1980s Size 37 / 7 Silk/Velvet Lace Up Kitten Heel Oxford Booties
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in San Diego, CA
Rare museum piece ! Early 1980s MANOLO BLAHNIK silk and velvet kitten heel lace up oxfords
Manolo Blahnik 1980s Size 37 / 7 Silk/Velvet Lace Up Kitten Heel Oxford Booties
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in San Diego, CA
Rare museum piece ! Early 1980s MANOLO BLAHNIK silk and velvet kitten heel lace up oxfords
1980s Manolo Blahnik Olive Green Oxford Heels
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in New York, NY
Gorgeous vintage 1980s Manolo Blahniks in olive green quilted leather with oxford style lace up
1980's Manolo Blahnik Gray Flannel Loafers - Size 36
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in Boca Raton, FL
Rare Manolo Blahnik gray flannel loafers from the 1980's. They are size 36 and in mint condition
1980s Manolo Blahnik London Shoes Rare Vintage gold Metallic Strappy Heels 39
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in Portland, OR
These Manolo Blahnik vintage shoes came from an estate of high end designer clothing and
1980s Yellow and Green Leather Manolo Blahnik Sling Back Shoes
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in London, GB
A great pair of shoes by British designer Manolo Blahnik.As you would expect from this brand the
1980s Manolo Blahnik Pony Hair Ankle Booties
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in New York, NY
SALE! Originally $595 Manolo Blahnik pony hair ankle booties with 2.5" heel. Size 40.5
Manolo Blahnik Early 1980's Black and Silver Suede Pumps
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in New York, NY
These outstanding shoes date from Manolo Blahnik's early days in New York City, from his first shop
Manolo Blahnik Rare Vintage Black Ruffled Satin Bow Shoes Mules Size 39.5
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in Portland, OR
These are rare 1980s Victorian inspired Manolo Blahnik mules with ruffles in size 39.5. These
1980s Manolo Blahnik Beaded Shoes
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in Litchfield County, CT
1980s-90s Manolo Beaded Paisley Design shoes. Modern jeannie style kitten heels by the prolific
1980s Manolo Blahnik Floral Tapestry Tall Leather Boots
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in London, GB
A pristine pair of Manolo Blahnik's tall boots, featuring a floral tapestry pattern throughout. The
Rare 1980s Manolo Blahnik London Shoes Vintage Ruffled Satin Bow Mules Unworn 39
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in Portland, OR
These Manolo Blahnik London vintage shoes are in a beautiful green taupe satin and have lovely
Manolo Blahnik Yellow and Cream Stripe Black Patent Leather Heeled Shoes, 1980s
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in Portland, OR
These are a pair of rare 1980's Manolo Blahnik slingback shoes with yellow and cream fabric with
New Snakeskin Vintage Manolo Blahnik London Color Block 1980's Shoes Sandals 39
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in Portland, OR
These vintage Manolo Blahnik snakeskin peep toe sandals have woven straps of teal, green, yellow
Pink Snakeskin Manolo Blahnik Vintage 1980s Shoes Unique Asymmetrical Openings
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in Portland, OR
These gorgeous Manolo Blahnik vintage pink snakeskin shoes are from the 1980s and have the Manolo
Rare Vintage Manolo Blahnik Black Ruffled Satin Bow Shoes Mules Size 39.5
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in Portland, OR
These are stunning, rare 1980s Victorian inspired Manolo Blahnik mules with ruffles in size 39.5
Manolo Blahnik Hot Pink Suede Ruffled Lace Up Vintage Booties Size 38.5 US 8.5
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in Portland, OR
These are rare 1980's vintage hot pink Manolo Blahnik suede oxford booties or shoes with leather
ALEXANDER McQUEEN A/W 2008 Black White Floral Peplum Illusion Circle Skirt
By Alexander McQueen
Located in Thiensville, WI
ALEXANDER McQUEEN A/W 2008 Black White Floral Peplum Illusion Circle Skirt Brand / Manufacturer: Alexander McQueen Collection: A/W 2008 Designer: Alexander McQueen Style: Skirt Colo...
Dolce & Gabbana Lace up Silk Dress
By Dolce & Gabbana
Located in Water Mill, NY
A beautiful silk dress in a pink and green geometric print from Dolce & Gabbana. The bodice is vertically boned, fitted through to the hips and has an attached matching pink adjusta...
Tom Ford for Gucci S/S 2002 Iconic Bamboo Heel Leather Sandals US 9.5 It - 39.5
By Gucci, Tom Ford for Gucci
Located in Montgomery, TX
Tom Ford for Gucci Iconic Bamboo High Heel Sandals Spring-Summer 2002 collection US size 9.5 B - Italian 39.5 B Dark brown leather, braided cord that wraps and ties, leather sole & ...
F/W 2003 Yves Saint Laurent by Tom Ford Runway Babydoll Sheer Chiffon Pink Tank
By Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent
Located in West Hollywood, CA
This pink and black lace tank top from Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, designed by Tom Ford for Fall/Winter 2003, debuted on the runway as look 18. Crafted from sheer light pink chif...
Valentino Sold Out Brand New Size 36 / 6 Polka Dot Runway Ankle Booties
By Valentino
Located in San Diego, CA
Amazing, and impossible to find never worn VALENTINO booties! Features the most luxurious leather in black, pink, red and ivory in a polka dot print. Zips up the interior side, and b...
Alaia by Azzedine Alaia Spring Summer 1992 "Mon Coeur Est A Papa" dress
By Azzedine Alaïa
Located in Antwerpen, Vlaams Gewest
Dating to the Spring/Summer 1992 collection, this Azzedine Alaïa mini dress is an iconic and increasingly rare collector’s piece. Crafted from Alaïa’s signature stretch knit, it feat...
Dolce & Gabbana "Naomi Campbell" Rare Runway Vintage Inspired Flapper Dress
By Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Dolce & Gabbana rare rich emerald green silk fringe dress worn on the runway by Naomi Campbell. Inspired by the 1920's fun flapper dresses this one is beautifully designed with much...
Vintage Alexander McQueen Bat Wing Knit Top
By Alexander McQueen
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
The Vintage Alexander McQueen Bat Wing Knit Top would be an exciting addition to any wardrobe, especially for someone who enjoys pieces that combine boldness, sophistication, and art...
$5,714
Size: FR 38 - IT 42 - UK 10 - US 6
Dolce & Gabbana black silk spandex and leather lace up dress, ss 2003
By Dolce & Gabbana
Located in London, GB
Dolce & Gabbana; black silk spandex figure hugging evening dress. - Lambskin leather grommet trim - Open on both sides with lace up fastenings - Invisible side zip closure ...
Judith Leiber Swarovski Crystal Flower Motif Evening Bag
By Judith Leiber
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
Elegance and glamor right this way! This is a highly designed handbag by none other than Judith Leiber that will be sure to catch people's attention from across the room. This is a B...
ALEXANDER MCQUEEN 2006 lilac black lace one shoulder bias gown dress IT40 S
By Alexander McQueen
Located in Hong Kong, NT
ALEXANDER MCQUEEN 2006 lilac black lace one shoulder bias gown dress IT40 S Reference: TGAS/D01019 Brand: Alexander McQueen Designer: Lee Alexander McQueen Collection: 2006 Material:...
Chinoiserie Art Deco Lame Coat, Margaine Lacroix 1925
Located in New York, NY
A finely beaded, sequined and embroidered evening coat, attributed to Margaine Lacroix, mid 1920's Paris, in extraordinary condition. The muted silver lamé ground is covered with ...
Coco Chanel Early Poured Glass Sea Serpent Belt
By Chanel
Located in Riverdale, NY
Coco Chanel Early Poured Glass Haute Couture Belt. Designed as a series of swag chains with emerald poured glass stations. Classically Baroque in the Chanel idiom with sea serpent mo...
Paco Rabanne 1985 "House of Medici" Haute Couture Gown Museum Collectors
By Paco Rabanne
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1985 Paco Rabanne Couture one-of-a-kind couture gown fashioned of silk velvet with bolero of heavily embroidered soutache and sequins in a floral motif. The attached bolero give th...
$4,081
Size: FR 38 - IT 42 - UK 10
Gianni Versace black leather gold buckled skirt with animal print, fw 1994
By Gianni Versace
Located in London, GB
Gianni Versace black leather pencil skirt with multiple signature gold buckles on each side. Animal print at the front. Fall-Winter 1994
Rare 1991 Gianni Versace Embroidered Shell Buster
By Gianni Versace
Located in New York, NY
Rare 1991 Gianni Versace Embroidered Shell Buster. Shell cups densely embroidered with red bugle beads; cobalt and clear rhinestone striations ; Ribbed Silk Panel. Zipper closure at ...
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.