[yasr_overall_rating]
An in-depth portrait of iconic shoe designer Manolo Blahnik and how his extraordinary dedication to his craft led him to become a household name in international fashion.
Manolo Blahnik likes feet more than Quentin Tarantino. He grew up in the Canary Islands (Spain). His Czech father’s family owned a pharmaceutical company in Prague, and his Spanish mother’s family owned a banana plantation in the island city of Santa Cruz de la Palma. He grew up sheltered and wealthy.
He was homeschooled when he was a child and his parents wanted him to be a diplomat. However, he moved to London to work as a buyer at a fashion boutique and in 1970, Blahnik had the chance to meet Diana Vreeland, the editor-in-chief of U.S Vogue. He took her advice and started designing shoes more than any other item.
While I admired his love of shoes and the lizards that inspired them, I felt that the movie was stagnant and dull. Quite an insipid and redundant look at very talented but uninteresting subject. Some A-List interviewees all are on board to sing his praises, from Anna Wintour (I guess ‘the Devil Wears Manolo’) to, in his own words, “today’s Grace Kelly,” Rihanna.
There are much more compelling subjects and fashion documentaries available so I would not recommend this unless you are a die-hard Shoe/Manolo enthusiast. I did, however, find it admirable that he considers himself a Cobbler first and that he would try to make most of his shoes more comfortable. I’m going to keep my heels dug in and say maybe check your streaming service for something with more substance.
Now playing in select theaters
