MANOLO BLAHNIK By Anne Graf

manolo B by Anne Graf

lahnik

Manolo Blahnik -- you might have heard this name thrown around in contexts of high fashion, pop culture, or even, strangely enough, lizards. High fashion is pretty easily explained, for he is, inarguably, one of the world’s most iconic shoe designers. Many people know of his shoes from Carrie Bradshaw’s obsession with them in Sex and the City, thus explaining pop culture. Which just leaves lizards. What on earth do lizards have to do with shoes? Nothing, unless you are Manolo Blahnik. When he was young, he would make tin foil shoes for lizards, as boys do. His artistic genius was manifesting itself from a young age.

Manolo Blahnik consistently stands out as a designer because of his innovative and whimsical designs. His shoes look like nothing else on the market, from their embellishments to the construction. He has created high heels without the heels, shoes that give your ankles wings, and even shoes that influence the way people walk. That last one was an accident though; Blahnik’s first collection of shoes incorporated cork in the heel, which due to the lower density as compared to the normally-utilized metal, caused the models to sway as they walked down the runway. Regardless of how he started out, now he is a household name, and his shoes have covered the feet of such legends as Rihanna and Michelle Obama!

His heels are beautiful and comfortable, his origin story is unique, to say the least, and his name is casually mentioned in conversation, movies, and on the web. It’s hard to imagine what he could possibly do next, but I’m sure he’ll surprise us all.