Manolo Blahnik

Manolo Blahnik (born November 27, 1942) is a Spanish fashion designer and an eponymous fashion label, one of the world's most prominent in women's shoes. Born in Santa Cruz de La Palma in the Canary Islands to a Czech father and a... [more]

Manolo Blahnik (born November 27, 1942) is a Spanish fashion designer and an eponymous fashion label, one of the world's most prominent in women's shoes.

Born in Santa Cruz de La Palma in the Canary Islands to a Czech father and a Spanish mother and raised on a banana plantation, Blahnik graduated from the University of Geneva with a degree in literature in 1965 and went on to study art in Paris. He moved to London in 1970 and opened his first shop in 1973 by buying out an existing shop called Zapata in Chelsea.

His shoes, now sold in stores bearing his name around the world, range in price from about $500 to $2500. They often come with stiletto heels, which can reach as high as five and a half inches, and embellishments like beads or ribbons. The television show Sex and the City mentioned his shoes so often that it helped cement his place in pop culture, and he was said to be the "fifth star" of the show after the show's four lead actresses. His late wife, Nola, was his inspiration for making shoes.

Background Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Manolo_Blahnik