Who in their right mind would pay $500 for a pair of shoes? Apparently, a lot of women are willing. I am as crazy about shoes as the next woman, but how can something made of wood and leather cost so much? Isn’t a shoe just a shoe? But that doesn’t seem to be the case when one is discussing or wearing a pair of Manolo Blahniks. In the beginning when Manolo was just an upstart designer with Ossie Clark, only the most upper-class ladies wore them, but then a little show called Sex and the City and a nicely-heeled character named Carrie Bradshaw came along and opened the floodgates about expensive foot apparel. Carrie was happily obsessed with Manolo Blahniks and now so are we.


As it seems to happen to a lot of famous people, Monolo Blahnik wasn’t thinking about shoes as a career when he first started out. He had wanted to be a set designer for the theater. When he had a chance meeting with Diana Vreeland it gave him the opportunity to show her some of his theater sketches – and one of the sketches was a whimsical shoe design of his own making. “Go with the shoes,” Diana advised. “And forget the rest.” Manolo took her advice and by 1972 he had his first shoe collection. By the mid-seventies everyone knew about his shoes. Everyone in high fashion that is. Bianca Jagger, Princess Diana, Jackie Onassis and many other celebrities would all become faithful followers, but he was little known to the ordinary shoe-wearing American woman. It wasn’t until a certain quirky character named Carrie Bradshaw walked into television history in a pair of very high-heeled Manolo Blahniks that anyone West of Manhattan even knew what these shoes were. And once Carrie got mugged on the street by a thug who snarled, “Give me your purse…and your Manolo Blahniks!” audiences knew something must be special about those shoes.



But again I ask, “Is there any kind of shoe truly worth $500?” I don’t think I can answer that question. One who has the cash would say yes, but another with limited funds may ogle and fantasize about a classic pair of Mediterranean mules, but cannot and will not buy them. I believe the difference comes in workmanship. Manolo likes thing personal. He likes to look over and approve every shoe that is designed. He even has shoe lines dedicated to celebrity women. There is something quite compelling about a man who gives this much love to his art. Laugh if you want, but every detail of every shoe is given special attention. His philosophy for his shoe collections is simple, “occasional avant garde looks for the affluent few” and “good solid looks that will wear forever.” Perhaps that explains the price tag. Quality and attention rarely come cheap.