The Goods The Legend of the Shoemaker

Discover Manolo Blahnik’s creative process at his upcoming show at The Wallace Collection, which will showcase 150 archive designs alongside his muses.

- Hannah Choo

It began 77 years ago. In 1942, in the Canary Islands, Manolo Blahnik was born. The elder of two children, he was raised by a Czech father and Spanish mother. His father’s family was in the pharmaceutical business, while his mother’s family ran a banana plantation. His childhood revolved around homeschooling, extracurricular activities and the isolation of the Canaries. For knowledge, he would rely on books and magazines shipped in weekly from Argentina. For fun, he would nab lizards and make shoes for them out of leftover tinfoil. He lived in complete fantasy as a child and perpetually found himself enamoured by peasant shoes, particularly the Catalan espadrilles his mother used to make.

His father had hoped he would become a diplomat, but he wanted to design stage sets. After studying politics and law in Geneva, and literature and architecture in Paris, he settled in London before moving to New York in 1971. Paloma Picasso, a dear friend, encouraged him to share his drawings with Diana Vreeland, the former editor of Vogue. He was 17 and a bundle of nerves, but Vreeland was only impressed. She told him to “go make shoes” and he did. He went on to become one of the world’s most esteemed shoe designers, reviving the stiletto in the 1970s. In fact, Madonna famously once said: “Manolo Blahnik’s shoes are as good as sex. And they last longer.”

Plenty of women (and a good number of men) covet his shoes. Meghan Markle loves them, and so does fashion influencer Aimee Song. Even the late Joan Rivers claimed to wear her Manolo flats to exercise every day. Her advice? Slip into any pair of Manolos and you’ll find yourself saying “hi, sailor” to every man who walks by.