Manolo Blahnik. The Art of Shoes

A touring artistic residency will launch Thursday 26th in Milan, Italy at the Palazzo Morando fashion museum.
Manolo Blahnik: The Art of Shoes is an intimate retrospective spanning 45 years of work by one of the most influential figures in his field; his inventiveness and superb craft has managed to cross boundaries between fashion and art.
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.
True to the nature of a cultural exchange, the touring residency, The Art of Shoes will land in revered and prestigious locations that have meaning to Mr. Blahnik, his work and his life. Launching at the Palazzo Morando in Milan; a fashion capital and home to the factories where Manolo Blahnik shoes are brought to life it then moves to the world-renowned State Museum Hermitage in St. Petersburg Russia, a source of constant inspiration for Mr. Blahnik. From there on to The Czech Republic, the paternal home of the Blahnik family where the exhibition will show at Museum Kampa in Prague, followed by the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas in Madrid, Spain, Mr. Blahnik’s heart land. In 2018 the tour then jumps to the esteemed BATA shoe museum in Toronto, Canada.
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. 

The tour will be accompanied by a book published by Skira/Rizzoli penned by the curator Cristina Carrillo Albornoz from conversations with Mr. Blahnik, taking the reader through the A–Z of his motivations and enthusiasms. The book will be available at all participating museums and online at manoloblahnik.com.
Dr. Cristina Carrillo de Albornoz, the curator says: ‘Manolo is fabulously visual, his mind restless and constantly curious about the world. In each style, he tries to capture what he considers to be the essence of elegance, femininity and beauty which he has channelled and entwined with his various cultural and emotional influences. Manolo’s shoes carry also his emotions, passions and his love for life; they echo his complex inner universe beyond conventions generally accepted and the result simply excels.’
The exhibition will be divided into six sections examining the constant themes which he returns to throughout his career. The first section called ‘Gala’ displays a range of Blahnik’s most imaginative shoes, all indicating his twist of irony and fantasy; this section will include his Marie Antoinette shoes. The second will review his geographical and environmental influences, with shoes inspired by Spain, Italy, Africa, Russia, England and Japan. The third section will examine his fascination with art and architecture and how these areas motivate him in shaping his constructions. The fourth section will be nature, representing his intense love for the botanical world which has been apparent throughout his career. The fifth section is entitled, ‘Materials’ and includes a selection of shoes depicting the elaborate details, rich fabrications and colours used through exquisite craftsmanship. The final and largest segment is the ‘Core section’ which displays shoes dedicated to people most influential to Blahnik, from Anna Piaggi, the legendary fashion editor of Italian Vogue to the actress Brigitte Bardot and King Alexander the Great.
Throughout this unique insight into the design DNA and colourful universe of Manolo Blahnik, the residencies and its curator invites the audience to think differently about shoes, beyond fashion, and to contemplate them as pure imaginative and dynamic objects with an art form with independent personalities of their own. 

With a career spanning 45 years, Manolo Blahnik is one of the world’s most influential footwear designers. His shoes have spellbound an international set of adoring and loyal devotees across the globe. Blahnik is a craftsman. To this day he makes a trip to the factories in Milan every season for a few weeks to personally bring to life every collection. All the shoes he develops are based on his sketches which get translated into prototypes at the factories. The exquisitely shaped lasts and heels he creates for his shoes are still perfected with his very own hands.
Through the years Manolo’s achievements have been recognised by various bodies in many countries, most recently the Couture Council of America and one of the highest accolades, an Honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) awarded by her Majesty The Queen. He has also published numerous books, the latest being Fleeting Gestures and Obsessions with Rizzoli in 2015.
Manolo Blahnik points of distribution total at 290 points of sale in 33 countries worldwide with 12 standalone stores and a recently launched ecommerce platform - manoloblahnik.com.
Along with a leading women’s line which includes evening and day bags, the brand also has a successful men’s collection.

About Cristina Carrillo de Albornoz Fisac
A former diplomat at the United Nations (UNESCO AND UNDP) in Switzerland and France, is currently working as independent art curator in main museums around the world. She is also an art critic and a book author. Since 1996 she is an art curator working with major institutions all over the world such as The Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, the National Gallery in Berlin, the Thyssen Collection, the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, the Circulo de Bellas Artes and Foundation Telefonica, also in Madrid. She has also worked for The Berardo Collection in Portugal, the Nobel Peace Foundation in Oslo, The National Museum in Beijing and the Museum of Models of Richard Meier.
She has curated among others exhibitions on Balthus, Fernando Botero and his art collection, the Museo Botero in Bogota, Wim Wenders photography, Frank Stella, Indian XX century art, Santiago Calatrava, masters of XX photography, Terry O’Neill photography as well as a retrospective of the Nobel Prize 2000 winner Gao Xingjian’s ground breaking inks.
She has also worked with the Marlborough gallery and major artists including David Salle, , Richard Deacon, Robert Rauschenberg, Cristina Iglesias, Tado Ando or Zaha Hadid. She has written books on Balthus, Fernando Botero (including his first monograph in China), Wim Wenders, Mahatma Gandhi and Satyajit Ray, Santiago Calatrava, and Ai Weiwei.     

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