Manolo Blahnik Embroidered Satin Court Slippers
View Similar Items
Manolo Blahnik Embroidered Satin Court Slippers
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: 38.5 (EU)
- Style:baroque (In the Style Of)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Over all very good, a few catches on satin, not seen when worn. Lightly worn. Soles are worn.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU46195104
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.
- French Art Deco Guilloche Enamel Shoe BucklesLocated in New York, NYAmazing art deco shoe buckles of the finest guilloche enamel on sterling. Figures represented are happy asian musicians set with a hand set paste surround...Category
Early 20th Century French Art Deco Shoes
- Exceptional French Art Deco Gold Kid BootsLocated in New York, NYExceptional and rare French Art Deco Gold Kid Boots. Of fine gold kid leather with high multi strapped instep closed with Tiffany style art glass iridescent shoe...Category
1910s French Shoes
- Phillipe Model Suede and Gold Kid PumpsLocated in New York, NYPhillipe Model Suede and Gold Kid Pumps. Unusual square tip pumps in dark chestnut suede with gold soutache abstract embroidery with tiny brown see...Category
1990s French Shoes
- Manolo Blahnik Crocodile MulesBy Manolo BlahnikLocated in New York, NYElegant and timeless Manolo Blahnik Brown Crocodile Mules with pointed edge detailing. Heel 2.25". Size 38. Italian.Category
Early 2000s British 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
- Charming Floral Applique Kitten Heel Pumps, Margaret JerroldBy Lord & TaylorLocated in New York, NYCharming floral kitten heel pumps with graphic appliques. Pale peach suede is applied with quatrefoil florals in brown, oxblood and pale buff. 1960's USA. Vintage Size 7.5 2AA, Very narrow, Length on sole 10.25". Widest are on sole 2.75". 5" across top of shoe at widest. Label: Margaret...Category
1960s American Shoes
- 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
- Manolo Blahnik Dove Grey Vintage Carolyne Slingback Shoes With HeelsBy Manolo BlahnikLocated in Portland, ORThese Manolo Blahniks Carolyne slingbacks are in a beautiful dove grey satin with pale grey leather detailing. These gorgeous shoes have a poin...Category
1990s Italian Heels
- 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