Pale pink satin pump with rhinestone embellishment MANOLO BLAHNIK
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, FR
Pale pink satin pump with rhinestone embellishment. Heel's height : 10cm Shoe size : 38 (It)
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.
| Average Sold Price |
| $493 |
| Related Designers |
Pale pink satin pump with rhinestone embellishment MANOLO BLAHNIK
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, FR
Pale pink satin pump with rhinestone embellishment. Heel's height : 10cm Shoe size : 38 (It)
$432
Size: EU 39.5 / UK 6.5
1990’s Manolo Blahnik Archival Tartan Red & Blue Lace up High Heels / Shoes 39.5
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in Sheffield, GB
A Vintage pair of Manolo Blahnik archival tartan plaid shoes. circa 1990. Crafted in a colourful checked Wool in blues and reds, with four eyelet lace up closure, slightly square sha...
Brown leather pump MANOLO BLAHNIK
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, FR
Brown leather pump. Heel's height : 9,5cm Shoe size: 38 1/2
Pair of Manolo Blahnik Light Blue Satin Heels With Blue & White Crystal Mounts
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Located in valatie, NY
A Pair of Manolo Blahnik Light Blue Satin Heels With Blue and White Crystal Embellishment Size 39 (US 8.5-9). The shoes feature an elasticated slingback strap and sophisticated jewel...
MANOLO BLAHNIK Vintage textured fabric multicolor jewel stiletto mules EU37
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MANOLO BLAHNIK Vintage yellow textured fabric multicolor jewel stiletto mules EU37 Reference: LNKO/A02753 Brand: Manolo Blahnik Material: Fabric Color: Yellow, Blue Pattern: Solid Cl...
MANOLO BLAHNIK Vintage leopard print calf hair suede bow pointed toe pumps EU37
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MANOLO BLAHNIK Vintage leopard print calf hair suede bow pointed toe pumps EU37 Reference: LNKO/A02751 Brand: Manolo Blahnik Collection: 2000's Material: Calf Hair, Suede Color: Brow...
Vintage Manolo Blahnik Bow Suede Ballerimu Slip On Mules Flats 38.5
By Manolo Blahnik
Located in Mechanicsville, VA
Vintage Manolo Blahnik Bow Suede Ballerimu Slip On Mules Flats 38.5 Color Teal Size 38.5IT Heel Height .5in Suede upper Leather sole Flat heel Soft pointed toe Delicate bow detail ...
Grey suede pump MANOLO BLAHNIK
By Manolo Blahnik
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Grey suede pump . Shoe size : 39 1/2 Heel's height : 10cm
| Sold Date | Sold Price | Category | Period | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| $493 |
Average sold price of items in the past 12 months |
| $186-$1,250 |
| Sold price range of items in the past 12 months |