NY Observer > Manolo Blahnik http://www.observer.com/taxonomy/term/28136/feed Articles from Observer.com en Sarah Michelle Gellar On B.F.F. Manolo Blahnik, Superficial Dreams http://www.observer.com/2008/sarah-michelle-gellar-b-f-f-manolo-blahnik-superficial-dreams

Sarah Michelle Gellar met her bestie, shoe designer Manolo Blahnik, on a rainy Manhattan day at Bergdorf.  read more »

]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/sarah-michelle-gellar-b-f-f-manolo-blahnik-superficial-dreams#comments Style Bergdorf Goodman Inc. Manolo Blahnik Sarah Michelle Gellar Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:35:26 -0500 David Foxley 62861 at http://www.observer.com Carrie, the Burden http://www.observer.com/node/32440 "The big elephant in the room is ‘Sex and the City,'" said a woman at the Rubin Museum of Art last Wednesday. She was speaking to the photographer Eric Boman, who is a close friend of the shoe designer Manolo Blahnik.

Mr. Boman had delivered a talk about the still life portraits he's made of Mr. Blahnik's architectural footwear. In them, they are dressed up in everything from African ceremonial jewelry to a scale-less Spanish mackerel. The photographs have now been collected in a weighty volume destined, it's safe to say, for the coffee tables of many fans of the HBO series which featured the famously Blahniks-addicted character Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker.

"Do you make any references to the show?" the woman inquired eagerly.

"Manolo thinks—which is very unfair—he thinks it's vulgarized his name," said Mr. Boman, who has a boyish, fine-featured face.

A listener in the audience gagged loudly.

"He says,"—here Mr. Boman traded his casual chatty tone for a comically grandiloquent one—"‘I'm sure that that Miss Parker is a perfectly nice woman,' and, he says, ‘I have met her, as a matter of fact'—I think she presented him with some award, you know, and she is a very nice woman, but he just thought that..."—Mr. Boman went into silent reflection for a moment—"It's an aspect of his work that he doesn't feel is his work?"

There were chuckles from the audience, which numbered 12. In this intimate setting, Mr. Boman spoke freely, as one might of a difficult, yet still utterly adored relative. "But it is, of course, what made him very successful and he should be very grateful. But he will not listen to any of that, and that's the way he is. He's the most stubborn...."

Mr. Boman met Mr. Blahnik in the early 1970's, shortly after they both arrived in London. Mr. Boman is a native Swede and Mr. Blahnik is of Czech and Spanish parentage. After years of shaping their respective careers—Mr. Blahnik, Mr. Boman noted, held no formal training in shoe design before taking up the profession, and adding Paloma Picasso to their happy circle, Mr. Boman decamped for New York. He's lived here, in Chelsea, for decades now.

"We've been friends for this long, I think, because there is an ocean between us," Mr. Boman said.

A sentimental sigh rose from the audience.

"He's a wonderful, loyal friend, a wonderful person, but he's very, very...it's a lot of stuff, and you can only deal with it in small doses. He has a very definite idea about how he thinks he wants to be seen—and not seen."

Mr. Boman had earlier described how Mr. Blahnik flatly vetoed one of his shots because it featured lines of powdered sugar that suggested lines of cocaine. "And so he puts on this rather showy performance persona, which is sometimes very exhausting. He used to walk down the street with me in London and he would spit out insults at people as he saw them because he would think that was, like, funny. He liked to outrage people."

That evening, just blocks away, Sarah Jessica Parker was treading the red carpet for the New York premiere of her new film, "Failure to Launch." And on her feet—what do you suppose she wore? —Nicholas Boston]]> http://www.observer.com/node/32440#comments Style Eric Boman London Manolo Blahnik Sarah Jessica Parker Wed, 15 Mar 2006 15:34:09 -0500 Observer Staff 32440 at http://www.observer.com The Agony of Da Feet! Sexy Shoe-Fixer Flexes http://www.observer.com/node/47573 You crazy little fool!  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/47573#comments Carlos Mesquita George Foreman Grill Jimmy Choo Ltd. Manolo Blahnik Sun, 25 May 2003 20:00:00 -0400 Simon Doonan 47573 at http://www.observer.com Gals, I've Got Foot-Fetish Flu! So Bid Adieu to Jimmy Choo http://www.observer.com/node/47038 Don't you think that the urban shoe-aholic-that contemporary chick with the mania for purchasing vas  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/47038#comments Media Bergdorf Goodman Inc. Imelda Marcos Manolo Blahnik Sarah Jessica Parker Sun, 02 Feb 2003 19:00:00 -0500 Simon Doonan 47038 at http://www.observer.com Dumb Bows http://www.observer.com/node/43225 They're putting bows on clothes again.  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/43225#comments Media Daniel Levinson Manolo Blahnik Mark Levinson Woodstock Sun, 30 Jul 2000 20:00:00 -0400 NYO Staff 43225 at http://www.observer.com The Cruel Shoe Master of New York http://www.observer.com/node/42196 Foxy Brown, the fashionable, tart-tongued rap diva, couldn't walk.  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/42196#comments Carlos Mesquita Foxy Brown Manolo Blahnik Manolo Blahnik Shoes Sun, 07 Nov 1999 19:00:00 -0500 Amy Larocca 42196 at http://www.observer.com Phyllis Stine Shops for a Scamper Through the English Countryside http://www.observer.com/node/41844 July 23. Dear Diary: C'est moi , Phyllis Stine. C'est moi .  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/41844#comments Media Hampton Court Palace Manolo Blahnik Paris United Kingdom Sun, 08 Aug 1999 20:00:00 -0400 William Norwich 41844 at http://www.observer.com How Even I Became a … Shoe Person ! http://www.observer.com/node/41635 Some see a wildly expensive feathered sandal and think, 'Why?' I see a pink Prada clog on sale and t  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/41635#comments Manolo Blahnik Marla Maples Mary Janes Prada SpA Group Sun, 13 Jun 1999 20:00:00 -0400 Alexandra Jacobs 41635 at http://www.observer.com A Regular Guy Crashes the Manolo Blahnik Sale http://www.observer.com/node/40842 Blowout at Blahnik!Yeah, it was getting toward the end of the big sale at Manolo Blahnik, the very e  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/40842#comments Media Al Gore Betty Currie Manolo Blahnik Sidney Blumenthal Sun, 16 Aug 1998 20:00:00 -0400 George Gurley 40842 at http://www.observer.com