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from the telegraph.co.uk
Stepping out with Manolo
(Filed: 10/05/2006)
The creator of the most lusted-after shoes in the world is on first-name terms with the rich and famous - and he's just designed for his first film. He talks to Clare Coulson
In pictures: Manolo's designs
With their vertiginously high heels, elegant lines and witty, extravagant designs, Manolo Blahnik's shoes are quite unlike any others. They provoke the kind of barely contained passion saved for illicit liaisons - which goes some way to explaining why Madonna once declared Manolos to be "better than sex".
His biggest fan: Sarah Jessica Parker who played Carrie Bradshaw
And, thanks to Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City 's shoe-crazed heroine, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, his name is now known to women all over the world, whether or not they can afford a pair (cost: from £275).
Yet, in person, Blahnik, who describes himself as "just a factory boy", is disarmingly down to earth. Even though he is on first-name terms with everybody from Anna (Wintour) and Anjelica (Huston) to Kate (Moss) and Naomi (Campbell), he charms me by politely inquiring if he may call me by my Christian name.
Today, Blahnik is dressed in an elegant grey suit and a white polo-neck sweater. He has come straight from his design studio, and has tell-tale splodges of violet ink all over his fingers - for which he apologises profusely.
It is 35 years since he designed his first shoe - for Celia Birtwell's husband and design partner, Ossie Clark - and, at 64, he is busier than ever, with no intention of retiring soon: "The day I start to get bored, I will stop - but I don't think I will. When do I have the time to get bored?"
He may well wonder. Not only does he still oversee the design and production of about 400 hand-crafted shoes each year - all of which are illustrated in his beautiful, signature ink-drawings - but Blahnik always has a handful of other illustrious projects on the go.
The most recent of these is designing shoes for the sumptuous Marie-Antoinette - Sofia Coppola's latest film, which stars Kirsten Dunst and premieres at Cannes next week. "When the producers called, I dropped everything," he says. "When I was a boy, my mother read a Marie-Antoinette biography, and I have read Antonia Fraser's version. I can't wait to see it. They said 'make them sexy', but I wanted to do something very academic." He began by studying original 18th-century shoes in Paris and at the V&A Museum.
"I thought that we wouldn't even see the stupid shoes on her feet but, apparently, Kirsten Dunst goes shopping and there the shoes are… They tell me they are in a big shot."
Blahnik, whose father is Czech and mother is Spanish, grew up in the Canary Islands. After school, he left home to study art and literature in Geneva and Paris. Then, in the late Sixties, he settled in London, where he found work as a buyer in a fashion boutique, and quickly became immersed in the city's bohemian fashion scene.
His fashion epiphany came in 1971, while on holiday in New York with his friend Paloma Picasso. Diana Vreeland, the hugely influential fashion editor of American Vogue, invited him to meet her, and he showed her some of his sketches - which included shoes. Vreeland was struck by his eccentric look - he was dressed in a "hideous" red-and-white gingham suit - and by the sketches, and decreed that he should make shoes. He obeyed.
Like his peers Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent, Blahnik is a polymath, interested in so much more than shoes. It's impossible to keep up with the fast-talking Spaniard as he flits from one subject to another, barely drawing breath. "I talk beyond control, I'm vomiting words!" he screeches.
One minute he's discussing the cinematography in Michael Powell's 1947 classic, Black Narcissus - "perfection" - the next, he is delivering a diatribe about the ridiculous sums paid to the world's best footballers: "Those poor football people with billions and trillions. I'm one of the few to think 'how sad'. They're born with nothing and then they are given everything. In my time, if you were celebrated or famous it's because you worked long and hard for it. Now people just want to be friends with a footballer. It's out of control."
Then, with an imperceptible mental leap, he's back on home territory, dramatically faking a heart attack at the recollection that his current students at the Royal College of Art (where he is a visiting lecturer in shoe design) didn't know who Cecil Beaton was. "It's my duty to tell people about these things," he insists.
The great man: 'My life is not pretty at all, you know'
In many ways, Blahnik, is living in the wrong era; he is astounded by the crass world around him. On just a few hours of sleep each night - and chocolate-fuelled sugar highs - he simmers with a manic energy and travels the globe, overseeing his company and attending glitzy galas.
He clearly finds the publicity whirl of the fashion industry a challenge: "I dread it - I'm not at all social," he says. "My life is not pretty at all, you know. This is tough for me, a marathon. But it's the nature of the business, to be seen."
Blahnik is acutely aware of the power of celebrity. As well as being one of fashion's most recognisable names, his huge success is due, in part, to the power of celebrity endorsement. The mega-brand that is Manolo Blahnik is built on the immaculately shod feet of the rich and famous - most notoriously the fictional feet of Carrie Bradshaw. "People say that I hate Sex and the City. It's bulls--t. I'm grateful until I drop dead!"
Recently, he has designed a shoe for his friend Naomi Campbell, which is an honour that he seldom bestows. Indeed, the designer only has good things to say about the model, who has once again hit the headlines for her explosive temper - in March she was charged with second-degree assault in New York. "I've known her since she was 15. She's divine," he says. "She's not easy, but the press are so mean to her. They hate her." He then launches into a celebratory roll-call of his favourite models, who include Kate Moss, Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton: "Oh, I love these girls. These girls are more important than the designers."
Blahnik is constantly approached by other designers, who are desperate to collaborate with him. It is clear, though, that he is bemused by many of his contemporaries and only selects a few offers - including Oscar de la Renta and Calvin Klein.
"I like experimental people," he says. He approves of Dolce & Gabbana, and admires Nicolas Ghesquière's clothes for Balenciaga: "But his shoes are like furniture. They are like commodes on the feet. Azzedine Alaia - he's the only one I adore. The best dresses of anybody. His clothes, even his platforms are beautiful. The rest is trash."
Indeed, Blahnik's shoes are far removed from the current fashion for clunky styles, and his criticisms are perfectly understandable at a time when shoes are, quite possibly, the ugliest they have ever been.
However, he's quick to point out that he's had his own fair share of design disasters. "I sometimes do horrible things that I hate. If you see my book, Manolo Blahnik Drawings, you will see some horrors. In the Seventies, I did huge platforms; they were like Frankenstein."
Unlike his design competitors, Blahnik still owns his company and has never considered selling out, despite several offers (Tamara Mellon sold a majority share of her company, Jimmy Choo, for a reported £65 million in 2004.)
"I don't belong to anyone," he says. "I have had huge offers. Huge! But I have my flowers, I have my house cleaned. I'm OK: I don't need money."
(Filed: 10/05/2006)
The creator of the most lusted-after shoes in the world is on first-name terms with the rich and famous - and he's just designed for his first film. He talks to Clare Coulson
In pictures: Manolo's designs
With their vertiginously high heels, elegant lines and witty, extravagant designs, Manolo Blahnik's shoes are quite unlike any others. They provoke the kind of barely contained passion saved for illicit liaisons - which goes some way to explaining why Madonna once declared Manolos to be "better than sex".
And, thanks to Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City 's shoe-crazed heroine, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, his name is now known to women all over the world, whether or not they can afford a pair (cost: from £275).
Yet, in person, Blahnik, who describes himself as "just a factory boy", is disarmingly down to earth. Even though he is on first-name terms with everybody from Anna (Wintour) and Anjelica (Huston) to Kate (Moss) and Naomi (Campbell), he charms me by politely inquiring if he may call me by my Christian name.
Today, Blahnik is dressed in an elegant grey suit and a white polo-neck sweater. He has come straight from his design studio, and has tell-tale splodges of violet ink all over his fingers - for which he apologises profusely.
It is 35 years since he designed his first shoe - for Celia Birtwell's husband and design partner, Ossie Clark - and, at 64, he is busier than ever, with no intention of retiring soon: "The day I start to get bored, I will stop - but I don't think I will. When do I have the time to get bored?"
He may well wonder. Not only does he still oversee the design and production of about 400 hand-crafted shoes each year - all of which are illustrated in his beautiful, signature ink-drawings - but Blahnik always has a handful of other illustrious projects on the go.
The most recent of these is designing shoes for the sumptuous Marie-Antoinette - Sofia Coppola's latest film, which stars Kirsten Dunst and premieres at Cannes next week. "When the producers called, I dropped everything," he says. "When I was a boy, my mother read a Marie-Antoinette biography, and I have read Antonia Fraser's version. I can't wait to see it. They said 'make them sexy', but I wanted to do something very academic." He began by studying original 18th-century shoes in Paris and at the V&A Museum.
"I thought that we wouldn't even see the stupid shoes on her feet but, apparently, Kirsten Dunst goes shopping and there the shoes are… They tell me they are in a big shot."
Blahnik, whose father is Czech and mother is Spanish, grew up in the Canary Islands. After school, he left home to study art and literature in Geneva and Paris. Then, in the late Sixties, he settled in London, where he found work as a buyer in a fashion boutique, and quickly became immersed in the city's bohemian fashion scene.
His fashion epiphany came in 1971, while on holiday in New York with his friend Paloma Picasso. Diana Vreeland, the hugely influential fashion editor of American Vogue, invited him to meet her, and he showed her some of his sketches - which included shoes. Vreeland was struck by his eccentric look - he was dressed in a "hideous" red-and-white gingham suit - and by the sketches, and decreed that he should make shoes. He obeyed.
Like his peers Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent, Blahnik is a polymath, interested in so much more than shoes. It's impossible to keep up with the fast-talking Spaniard as he flits from one subject to another, barely drawing breath. "I talk beyond control, I'm vomiting words!" he screeches.
One minute he's discussing the cinematography in Michael Powell's 1947 classic, Black Narcissus - "perfection" - the next, he is delivering a diatribe about the ridiculous sums paid to the world's best footballers: "Those poor football people with billions and trillions. I'm one of the few to think 'how sad'. They're born with nothing and then they are given everything. In my time, if you were celebrated or famous it's because you worked long and hard for it. Now people just want to be friends with a footballer. It's out of control."
Then, with an imperceptible mental leap, he's back on home territory, dramatically faking a heart attack at the recollection that his current students at the Royal College of Art (where he is a visiting lecturer in shoe design) didn't know who Cecil Beaton was. "It's my duty to tell people about these things," he insists.
In many ways, Blahnik, is living in the wrong era; he is astounded by the crass world around him. On just a few hours of sleep each night - and chocolate-fuelled sugar highs - he simmers with a manic energy and travels the globe, overseeing his company and attending glitzy galas.
He clearly finds the publicity whirl of the fashion industry a challenge: "I dread it - I'm not at all social," he says. "My life is not pretty at all, you know. This is tough for me, a marathon. But it's the nature of the business, to be seen."
Blahnik is acutely aware of the power of celebrity. As well as being one of fashion's most recognisable names, his huge success is due, in part, to the power of celebrity endorsement. The mega-brand that is Manolo Blahnik is built on the immaculately shod feet of the rich and famous - most notoriously the fictional feet of Carrie Bradshaw. "People say that I hate Sex and the City. It's bulls--t. I'm grateful until I drop dead!"
Recently, he has designed a shoe for his friend Naomi Campbell, which is an honour that he seldom bestows. Indeed, the designer only has good things to say about the model, who has once again hit the headlines for her explosive temper - in March she was charged with second-degree assault in New York. "I've known her since she was 15. She's divine," he says. "She's not easy, but the press are so mean to her. They hate her." He then launches into a celebratory roll-call of his favourite models, who include Kate Moss, Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton: "Oh, I love these girls. These girls are more important than the designers."
Blahnik is constantly approached by other designers, who are desperate to collaborate with him. It is clear, though, that he is bemused by many of his contemporaries and only selects a few offers - including Oscar de la Renta and Calvin Klein.
"I like experimental people," he says. He approves of Dolce & Gabbana, and admires Nicolas Ghesquière's clothes for Balenciaga: "But his shoes are like furniture. They are like commodes on the feet. Azzedine Alaia - he's the only one I adore. The best dresses of anybody. His clothes, even his platforms are beautiful. The rest is trash."
Indeed, Blahnik's shoes are far removed from the current fashion for clunky styles, and his criticisms are perfectly understandable at a time when shoes are, quite possibly, the ugliest they have ever been.
However, he's quick to point out that he's had his own fair share of design disasters. "I sometimes do horrible things that I hate. If you see my book, Manolo Blahnik Drawings, you will see some horrors. In the Seventies, I did huge platforms; they were like Frankenstein."
Unlike his design competitors, Blahnik still owns his company and has never considered selling out, despite several offers (Tamara Mellon sold a majority share of her company, Jimmy Choo, for a reported £65 million in 2004.)
"I don't belong to anyone," he says. "I have had huge offers. Huge! But I have my flowers, I have my house cleaned. I'm OK: I don't need money."
