Manolo Blahnik Has a New Store

Like every female over the age of ten in America, I know that Manolo Blahnik designs and makes fabulous shoes for women. Full disclosure: I hate shoes and would go barefoot down Fifth Avenue if I dared. I opt for black, simple, utilitarian, low-heeled shoes that do not have the word “pain” written all over them. But, most important: can I walk for miles in them? In Manhattan we all walk everywhere.

Wool Hangi flats

So I find it interesting that, for some reason, I’m always writing about shoes. CLICK HERE to read about flats that convert to heels.

CLICK AGAIN for our report on the shoes at the New York Historical Society.

THEN CLICK for our blog about Bloomingdale’s spanking, new shoe department.

WHAT’S THE NEWS ABOUT MANOLO BLAHNIK?

In the weekend edition of the Financial Times of June 3, 2018 the Magazine (11” x 13 ½”) had a big, splashy four-page report on this famous shoe maven that boiled down to this: he’s going into men’s shoes or, more specifically, brogues and boots.

I’m sure ADEA readers are not jumping for joy over that news so we’ll give it short shrift. In London he’s opening a men-only store that he refers to as an “experiment.” It will be next to his women’s shop in the Burlington Arcade. Don’t know where that is? Neither do I – so I googled it and here’s the description, “A lovely, quaint shopping arcade that links Piccadilly to Bond Street.” Sounds very posh.

Satin Beladona slingbacks   

Suede Maysale mules with embellished jewel buckle

LAST YEAR A FILM WAS BROUGHT OUT ABOUT HIM

The Financial Times article written by Nick Foulkes is quite laudatory when the author describes the film titled, The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards. Apparently Blahnik had a childhood habit of making boots for the reptiles of his native Canary Islands. Or, as Foulkes writes, “It was intended as a biographical study, with dramatized sequences and documentary footage of Blahnik at work.  But what it succeeded in becoming was a fiercely fought complement competition between the pundits. For example:

ANNA WINTOUR said she never wore, or even looked at, a pair of shoes that were not Manolos

A SPANISH FASHION JOURNALIST said that along with Picasso and Almodóvar (filmmaker/actor), Blahnik was one of the three greatest Spanish artists of the 20th century – I think this is a bit of an overstatement

AND CARRIE BRADSHAW of Sex and the City said that when she was looking down the barrel of a mugger’s gun she let him take her Fendi Baguette, her ring and watch – but begged him not to take her Manolo Blahniks

THE MEN’S SHOP WILL BE HIS 17TH, BUT HE’S NOT COUNTING

Blahnik always wants each of his shops to be different: whether it’s the lights in the Josef Hoffmann-inspired Geneva store or the wood-and-gold-cage look that characterizes his Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia one. He never wants to repeat himself.

The Manolo Blahnik store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

After 40 years, 17 shops and countless department stores – plus his new men’s store – it looks like this 75-year-old maverick has many more creative and exciting years ahead.

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