Signed Couture Manolo Blahnik Pumps - 39.5 - New / Unworn
View Similar Items
Signed Couture Manolo Blahnik Pumps - 39.5 - New / Unworn
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Westhampton Beach, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: v38521703142536493fs
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.
- Dolce & Gabbana, Purple suede studded heel sandalsBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in AMSTERDAM, NLDolce & Gabbana, Purple suede studded heel sandals with strap around the ankles. This item is in very good condition. • CONDITION: very good cond...Category
2010s Shoes
- Amina Muaddi Vita Crystal Lilac Nappa Sandals Heels (EU 37)Located in Montreal, QuebecLilac leather Vita crystal sandals from Amina Muaddi featuring tie-fastening ankle strap, crystal embellishment, open toe and high heel. Before launching her eponymous women's shoe ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Shoes
- Alexander McQueen Hendrix Blue Red Leather Sandal Heel (39.5 EU)By Alexander McQueenLocated in Montreal, QuebecCOLOR: Blue/red MATERIAL: Leather SIZE: 39.5 EU / 6.5 US HEEL HEIGHT: 100 mm (4 in) COMES WITH: Original box CONDITION: Good - light wear to the bottoms with scrapes, scuffs and mar...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Shoes
- Purple suede high heels mocassin Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheBy Yves Saint LaurentLocated in Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, FRPurple suede high heels mocassin with pompom. Height of the heel = 11 cm Shoe size : 37 (It)Category
Early 2000s Italian Shoes
- Heel mocassin in purple suede Yves Saint LaurentBy Yves Saint LaurentLocated in Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, FRHeel mocassin in purple suedeCategory
Early 2000s Italian Shoes
- Nicholas Kirkwood Purple Suede Slingback Pointed Toe Shoes With HeelsBy NICHOLAS KIRKWOODLocated in Portland, ORThese are stunning Nicholas Kirkwood purple suede leather pointed toe heels with adjustable ankle strap. These shoes come with their original box, dustbag, and heel tips. The purple ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Shoes