Manolo Blahnik was born in 1943 in a banana plantation in the Canary Islands of Spain. His mother was Spanish and his father was Czech. He and his sister Evangeline received strict tutoring from a young age, and he studied language and art in Geneva. In 1968, Manolo came to Paris and aspired to become a stage designer.
In 1970, when he visited New York, he showed his designed display to Diana Vreeland, the editor in chief of Vogue in the United States. Diana greatly appreciated the shoes he designed and encouraged him to showcase his talents in this area and continue his studies.
Manolo began to constantly visit shoe factories and exchange ideas with workers. The most famous designer in London at the time, Ossie Clark, adopted his women’s shoes and demanded that he launch his own design series. From then on, Manolo’s career began to be on the right track.
In 1973, his “Cher Twenty” shoe store opened. At that time, the popular shoe styles were still those with thicker heels, but they appeared clumsy. Manolo was the first to create elegant slim high heels, allowing women’s sexiness and grace to be unleashed. But no matter how high or thin the heel of his shoes is, it is based on the premise of being sturdy and durable, especially the design of the sole that fits the foot of the human body, ensuring comfortable wearing.
