Manolo Blahnik Footwear Designers- Stylert.com

Dec. 2, 2011 - PRLog -- Manolo Blahnik is one of the world's most famous footwear designers. His shoes are synonymous with high glamour and sex appeal and have become as famous as the women who wear them. Manolo Blahnik's shoes have a long list of famous clientele and celebrities.

Manolo Blahnik was born in Santa Cruz de La Palma in the Canary Islands to a Czech father and a Spanish mother and raised on a banana plantation.
Blahnik graduated from the University of Geneva with a degree in literature in 1965 and went on to study art in Paris. He moved to London two years later where he worked briefly as a photographer for the Sunday Times and immediately fell into the fashion set, making friends with Paloma Picasso and photographer Eric Boman.

Blahnik wanted to be a theatre designer but, once he had been persuaded to show her his sketches and after admiring the shoes he had on - a tiny Edwardian pair from Portobello Market - Vreeland insisted that he "should concentrate on the funny little things on the feet". And Blahnik obeyed.

His first collection was designed for Ossie Clark in 1971, but over the years, Blahnik's shoes have graced the catwalks of the world's leading designers including Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Calvin Klein, John Galliano and Michael Kors.

He opened his first shop in 1973 by buying out an existing shop called Zapata in Chelsea. This boutique was on Old Church Street in London which soon became regularly frequented by Bianca Jagger, Marie Helvin and Jerry Hall.
Princess Diana wore them to the Serpentine Gallery in 1994 on the night that Prince Charles admitted his infidelity.

Kylie Minogue wore them for the cover of her 2001 comeback album. Madonna once described shoes designed by Blahnik as "better than sex" and added that, "what's more, they last longer". Blahnik, known for a wit as sharp as the heels he is famous for making, simply responded: "You have to admire her, she hides her lack of talent so well.

Later, his name became even better known when his designs took 'supporting roles' on the hit television shows Absolutely Fabulous and Sex And The City.
Fashion Council in 1990 and 1999, Blahnik also has honorary doctorates from the Royal London College of Art and the Royal Society of Arts of Britain. In 2003, he was honoured with a retrospective exhibition of his drawings, memorabilia and collections at the Design Museum in London.

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