Vetements X Manolo Blahnik

So this collaboration finally dropped in stores last week and what a delight they are! Mow they aren't what you would expect of Manolo Blahnik, in that they are simply designed with a classic court shoe sillhouette but in true Blahnik style they are made from satin upper and my guess is that this along with Blahniks signature scribbled on the side is exactly what Vetements was looking for in collaboration. Vetements is know for its laid back fashion, the type of fashion you'd see trendy people living in Shoreditch or Brooklyn wearing so this collaboration is a nice little partnership of sexy footwear with uber cool clothes.

Manolo Blahnik 'Art of Shoes' Exhibition - Milan

This brought FAR too much excitement to my life when this piece of news was released! The only downer though? The exhibition isn't coming to London :(!!! BUT! this could be another reason to travel. The exhibition will be hosted at a number of locations starting in Milan, from Jan 26th to April 9th. It will showcase 212 shoes divided into 6 sections all celebrating Blahniks work as a form of art and showing off Blahniks vision, craftsmanship and creativity. As mentioned the first stop for the exhibition is Milan, other locations include St Petersburg Russia, Czech Republic, Madrid and finally Toronto Canada. As soon as I have further information on this I'll be sure to update you guys!

Manolo Blahnik @ Selfridges 

Opening - 11th July 2016

Renders by Nick Leith-Smith Architecture 

Only 5 months ago Manolo Blahnik opened a stand alone store in London's Burlington Arcade and this coming Monday Manolo Blahnik will be opening another store in London's Bond Street department store Selfridges - how very excting. To mark the special occasion an exclusive pair of limited edition shoes have been designed, (a black patent circular detail sandal with white piping) and for every pair sold on the day customers will be handed a framed sketch of the style signed and sealed by Manolo Blahnik himself. He has been one busy man, from opening stores and designing shoes with Rihanna what else does this man have up his sleeve? Whatever it is I'm sure we wont be disappointed! 

Rihanna X Manolo Blahnik

Denim Desserts by Rihanna

A collaboration that is bound to be an instant sell out is my prediction. I couldn't think of a better partnership, for me there has a been an undercurrent of adoration thats been slowly picking up pace since the release of her song Work, and you simply can't do wrong when you have the god of heels by your side designing your collection. The collection is made up of 6 pieces, aptly named Denim Desserts by Rihanna since the uppers are made from - yep you've guessed it, denim! They are set to be released on May 5th and available in Manolo's London, New York, and Hong Kong stores.

The showstoppers!

Manolo Blahnik - Burlington Arcade

The announcement of the 2nd stand alone Manolo Blahnik London store a couple weeks ago was music to my ears. Although I missed out on the opportunity to have a meet and greet with the man himself on the opening night in the Burlington Arcade I cannot wait to have a good ol' look around the store. The stores launch has had lots of press and only yesterday was it featured in one of my all time favourite free mags; Time Out. Now the article is more of a Q&A but definitely worth a read if you manage to find a copy, its candid yet inspiring and definitely encourages you take a visit to the store. I should be taking a visit at some point, so expect a photo diary of real soon!

Christmas Presents

So since I'm officially in work mode (and not sit around in my pjs watching movies all day mode) I have actually made the time to make sure I use all the presents I received. I would say I'm easy to buy for, it either revolves around shoes, clothes, books and if thats difficult to pick from then money. This year my family and boyfriend did exceedingly well! I often get asked for a list before christmas as does my sister of things I want. Now, there is a difference between want and need, I often just ask for the things I need, you know?! the usual items perfumes, socks, night gowns, slippers etc and then there is the 'want' list. On this list is a carefully thought out bunch of stuff that I've either been wanting for a long time or certainly pining over, but at the same time if I didn't get them I wouldn't be too upset either (does that make sense :S). I received the creme de la creme off the 'want' list; it was only the Manolo Blahnik Fleeting Gestures and Obsessions coffee table book!!!!!!! Ive spent most of my time over the last week or so flicking through the book in complete awe! (note to self - next goal; buy a pair of vintage Manolo Blahniks!) I was so excited to have received this as a present, mainly because even though it was at the top of list I didn't think in a million years I would actually get it A) it's expensive - especially for a coffee table book and B) ITS A BOOK! Crikey!... thats expensive! haha! So inevitably I have been taking great care of it and and looking through it whenever I glance over at it on my desk! My boyfriend however went way off track, presenting me with a voucher (which he had designed) for a pair of shoes...but not just any shoes....

Understandably I was totally excited and have since been searching net-a-porter for a pair of shoes I just can't take my thoughts off of! So stay tuned for what I eventually decide on picking!

I hope you all had a lovely break but for now its back to the grind! Have a fantastic first week back to work, I hope those daily routines have been helping you to find a more productive day and hopefully week ahead!

Kiren

x

Shoe of the Week

'Hangisi' heels

Manolo Blahniks 'Hangisi' heel has been crowned Shoe of the Week. Its  royal blue silk upper and the embellishment make these an all time classic shoe. Carrie Bradshaw (from SATC) wore them for her on screen wedding to Big and off screen Olivia Palermo got married in them too. They can be worn for an evening outfit and look dressed up  and dressed down with a pair of boyfriend fit jeans or even skinnys, giving you any reason to wear them!

W - www.manoloblahnik.com

F - Manolo Blahnik

T - @manoloblahnik

I - @manoloblahnikhq

SHOES 

PLEASURE AND PAIN

V&A

So a couple weeks back my lovely boss treated the ICMS team to the Shoes Pleasure and Pain exhibition at the V&A - it was nothing short of inspiring. The collection was pretty amazing and the short films were fab. The most memorable part of the exhibition was watching the short films on how 5 renowned designers (Manolo Blahnik, Sandra Choi of Jimmy Choo, Caroline Groves, Marc Hare and Christian Louboutin) within the footwear industry deal with the specific elements of the design process. Most of their responses within this 12 minute clip explored in my opinion the ever changing relationships with technology, either with design (using CAD as to the old fashioned way of using pen and paper) or even the manufacturing process. Caroline Groves in particular relished in the fact that bespoke shoe making allowed her to take complete control of the making process using only a sewing machine in her kitchen to complete a beautifully custom made pair of shoes. In comparison other designers almost felt eternally indebted to their manufactures and worked meticulously together to recreate the exact design that was initially conceived from a sketch or CAD design. The exhibition brought together all of these components, including a brief history in footwear all the way to shoes in the present, that have completely changed the way shoes have been designed and made.

V&A Museum

£12 entry

South Kensington Tube Station

www.vam.ac.uk

Victoria and Albert Museum

@V_and_A

@vamuseum

MANOLO BLAHNIK
Illustrations

Recently I have really enjoyed using watercolours as a painting medium and I love using them while trying ('trying' being the operative word) to illustrate shoes (I need way more practice). So when I've got a bit of time I love checking out Manolo Blahniks illustrations to inspire me. Today I'm going to leave you with a few of my favourite illustrations - they'll have you pining for the real thing!

(FYI - there is a book full of Blahniks illustrations available to buy on amazon, i just love it! )

Harrods - Shoe Heaven

No department store is complete without a shoe section and with the type of clientele that Harrods attracts you wouldn’t expect anything less than unparalelled luxury for their customers, queue; Harrods - Shoe Heaven space that's 42,000 sq ft, found on the 5th floor of the store with over 100,000 shoes available.

To celebrate the Shoe Heaven opening Harrods have invited some of the top footwear designers from around the world to each design a limited edition shoe as part of their exclusive ‘Silver Lining’ range - yep they are nothing short of luxury - Shoe Heaven you might even call it (ha! get it) and apt for the metallic trend at the moment. The designers involved, (take your pick of high end designers - the list is huge!) are:

Alaia

Aquazzura

Balenciaga

Burberry

Casadei

Charlotte Olympia

Christian Louboutin

Dior

Dolce & Gabbana

Gianvito Rossi

Gina

Givenchy

Gucci

Giuseppe Zanotti

Jimmy Choo

KG London

Nicholas Kirkwood

Manolo Blahnik

Prada

Roger Vivier

Rupert Sanderson

Salvatore Ferragamo 

Sophia Webster

Stuart Weitzman

Tabitha Simmons

Tod’s

Valentino

(breathe)

With so many designers in this range, I decided to pick out my favourites and this was tough! there are so many greats on the list but here we go..

Alaia

Burberry

Prada

Casadei

Sophia Webster

Christian Louboutin

Givenchy

Valentino

Stuart Weitzman

Dolce & Gabbana

Jimmy Choo

Roger Vivier

Rupert Sanderson

Website

www.harrods.com

Style
Silver Lining Range: 27 

Price

Ranges and prices are not available online