Manolo Blahnik Crocodile Mules
View Similar Items
Manolo Blahnik Crocodile Mules
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: 38 (EU)
- Style:2000 (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4613960322
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.
- Yves Saint Laurent Pave Jet PumpsBy Yves Saint LaurentLocated in New York, NYSilk faille YSL pumps with stacked heel and soles which are completely paveed in black jet swarovski crystals.
Size 7
Excellent condition.Category1990s French Shoes
- Italian Mid Century Micromosaic HeelsLocated in New York, NYItalian Mid Century Micromosaic Heels circa 1950's. A hand laid mosaic spray of multicolored flowers is rendered on the black glass base. 1950's Italy. Incredible and stylish handma...Category
1950s Italian Shoes
- French Art Deco Enamel Shoe BucklesLocated in New York, NYFrench Art Deco Shoe Buckles with enameled faces of stylized flower vases on silvered metal. Colorations are purposely slightly different. High style, Ert...Category
1920s French Shoes
- Italian Gold Lame Suspended PumpsLocated in New York, NYAmazing Italian Gold Lame Suspended Pumps by Griffi Italy, hand crafted Florentine in italy, Gold lame on leather with pleated bow. Sole 2.75 wide, length in...Category
1950s Italian Shoes
- Walter Steiger Black Linen Pumps with Colorful EyeletsBy Walter SteigerLocated in New York, NYWalter Steiger Black Linen Pumps with Colorful Eyelets, lined in gold kid leather. Steiger's shoes were always powerful, vibrant and edgy at the same time....Category
1980s French Shoes
- Yves Saint Laurent High Black Suede BootsBy Yves Saint LaurentLocated in New York, NYYves Saint Laurent High Suede Boots in black with velvet piping trim. Iconic style worn with many of YSL's signature collections. Half lined in metallic leather. Vintage size 6.5M. ...Category
1980s French Shoes
- NEW GUCCI 1990 camel suede Platform PumpsBy GucciLocated in Genève, CH-Suede leather -Camel color -Block heels -125 mm heel -Sold with dustbag and box -New condition -Size 40 FRCategory
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Shoes
$340 Sale Price20% Off - Christian Louboutin, Black suede hidden platform pumpsBy Christian LouboutinLocated in AMSTERDAM, NLChristian Louboutin, Black suede hidden platform pumps. The item is in very good condition and comes with box and dustbag. Heels have a protective cover and inside has a cushion at t...Category
2010s Shoes
- Gianvito Rossi, Stretch peep toe ankle bootsBy Gianvito RossiLocated in AMSTERDAM, NLGianvito Rossi, Stretch peep toe ankle boots in black. The item is in very good condition. Sole has been reinforced. The item comes with dustbag. ...Category
2010s Shoes
- Chanel, Black sequined sandalBy ChanelLocated in AMSTERDAM, NLChanel, Black sequined sandal. The item is in very good condition. Worn once. Comes with 2 dustbags and extra set of heels. • CONDITION: very good condi...Category
2010s Shoes
- Gucci, Black over knee sock bootsBy GucciLocated in AMSTERDAM, NLGucci, Black over knee sock boots. The item is in good condition and comes with box and dustbag. • CONDITION: good condition • SIZE: 39.5 • INSOLE MEASUR...Category
2010s Shoes
- Lara Bohinc, platform peep toe pumpsLocated in AMSTERDAM, NLLara Bohinc, Leather and suede platform peep toe pumps in white and black. The item has been worn once and is in new condition. • CONDITION: excellent ...Category
2010s Shoes