Mr. Blahnik in Milan

A special retrospective gets in Milan the glamour of Manolo Blahnik’ shoes

Today the city of Milan welcomes a special event: Manolo Blahnik. The Art of Shoes. Being held in the 18th century location of Palazzo Morando till April 9 2017, the retrospective showcases 45 years of work by one of the most influential figures in his field. With over 30,000 unique styles in the infamous private archive, Mr. Blahnik with the curator Dr. Cristina Carrillo de Albornoz has hand selected 212 shoes and 80 original drawings as a personal reflection of his work capturing his design essence through his passions and inspirations: architecture, art, botany, literature, cinema, the Eighteenth Century, Italy, Russia, Spain and many other cultural influences that fascinate him. Spanning from the early 1970’s to modern day, the creative selection will also include the collection of Marie Antoinette shoes, which Mr. Blahnik created with Oscar winner Milena Canonero for Sofia Coppola’s film Marie Antoinette (2006). Attendees of the exhibition will be enlightened with insights into Mr Blahnik’s extraordinary and complex universe with exclusive footage of him at work and his celebrated artistic drawings and sketches. Blahnik dedicated the exhibition to his beloved Italian friends: longtime Vogue Italia’s editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani, who died last December.

“I loved her. I knew she was ill but didn’t believe she [would be gone] so soon,” he said, revealing that Sozzani herself asked him to stage the exhibit. “She should have been here today. This is her exhibition.”

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