Louboutins as well as original Jimmy Choos and Manolo Blahniks are hunted by fashionistas all over the world. No one even asks why, because the answer is pretty obvious – these three shoe makers create glamour and sophistication along with high quality and wearability.

The new collection of Christian Louboutin shoes for Spring/Summer 2010 looks amazing. It includes fabulous and elegant high-heeled pumps as well as diamond-embellished flats and nice-looking wedges.

Some shoes come in leather but most pairs are made of chic suede and satin. The colors are very diverse: from luxury black to bright youthful red, yellow and violet.

I love the shoes! Do you agree with me that they are absolutely gorgeous?

The footwear designer is well-known in the US and many other countries but he really hates being recognised in public.

He complained:

The taxi drivers even recognise me now. Working at the New York customs there was a lady who loved my shoes. There was such a line forming behind me at passport control, I had to give her some in the end.

It’s sweet but it becomes too much and I don’t feel comfortable. I have never wanted to be a celebrity designer.”

I can qualify this woman’s actions as too inappropriate but the pair she got in the result must be worth it.

Manolo Blanik shoes: every woman’s dream

So, this Fall 2009 Manolo Blahnik shoe line is not an exception.

Shoes are fab and urbane. The styles are refreshing, especially because the season will be superfluity with platforms and adored with many elements.

The Manolo Blahnik footwear for Autumn/Winter 2009-2010 is simple – nice designs for both business and daily causes.

The famous footwear couturier, whose exclusive shoes were worn by fashion-forward character Carrie Bradshaw in ‘Sex and the City’, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, considers other accessories to be much more important than footwear.

He said:

Are shoes so important? Really? If I was a woman, I would be dressed in the same thing for a month and just change my hat and gloves. Maybe my shoes too, but really, it’s jewels that change an outfit. And I do love gloves. And I adore hats.”

Manolo even said:

There are just too many shoes now. I always tell the children, my students, ‘Don’t do shoes! Do hats!’ And the shoes are so strange, so vulgar.

I hate these platforms that are all over the place today – they are all about grabbing attention. I never do a platform. Well, I did, in the 70s, but that was a bad experience.”

What do you think about this? If you’d asked my opinion I’d have said that shoes are of great significance and can never ever be compared to gloves or hats in their image-changing function!

Let’s continue our theme.

Terry De Havilland Wedges

Seventies

Terry de Havilland – a rock’n'roll cobbler who created footwear for celebrities such as Bianca Jagger, Britt Ekland and David and Angie Bowie designed the most wonderful Seventies platforms.

Terry de Havilland came from a shoe-making family. Once he said:

I’d be surprised if I’d got into this business if my dad hadn’t been in it. I grew up watching shoes being made.’

His first shop on the King’s Road, named Cobblers To The World, became a place often visited by rock stars and celebrities who could buy wedge shoes with ankle straps in peach, yellow, pistachio and blue snakeskin, and thigh-high, satin-lined black leather boots.

Soon after Miu Miu had showed a collection of wedge designs very similar to his originals, de Hevilland restarted his own-name brand and created a new series of wedge shoes for Frost-French’s lingerie-inspired catwalk collection. The shoes stole the show and de Havilland transfixed a new generation.

Now, many celebrities wear modern versions of his original designs. For instance, Sienna Miller, Kate Moss or Amy Winehouse.

Your collection will seem incomplete if you have no wedges of the seventies. They are nice to look at and comfortable to wear.

Manolo Blahnik cone heels

Eighties

The cone heel was invented by designer Maud Frizon for combining height with comfort in a way the stiletto did not. It was for the woman who wanted to show she was glamorous, but would not stand for being messed around.

This heel type was very typical for that decade. Business and power had to be together. Blahnik captured the imagination of the era – most of his styles sold out as soon as they were launched.

He had many famous fans including Jerry Hall, who wore her dramatic Antony Price gowns with Blahnik’s black suede heels.

Blahnik cemented his status in TV’s Sex And The City when fashion fanatic Carrie Bradshaw was mugged and famously pleaded:

Please, sir. You can take my Fendi Baguette, you can take my ring and watch, but don’t take my Manolo Blahniks.’

Good reason for adding them into your collection is their practicality, glamour and the spirit of the age.

Christian Louboutin very prive

Still in production

Christian Louboutin is the shoe designer of our times and his footwear stands out from the crowd, because of the famous bright red soles and good quality. His shoes are painstakingly designed and beautifully made.
The idea of red soles occurred to the designer when he was working on a collection influenced by Andy Warhol and his use of bright, highly saturated colours.

After the model was designed, Louboutin felt something was missing and noticed one of the assistants painting her nails with bright red enamel.

He took the bottle and painted the soles of the shoes with the gloss so that although some of the shoes looked simple on the outside, once a woman was walking they gave a flirtatious flash.

This became his trademark and is the only form of advertising Louboutin has ever done.

Louboutin nominated the Very Prive as one of his favourite designs, explaining his love of very high heels:

My long-time love of the French showgirl and stage performers means I design a lot of very high heels that lengthen the leg.

People ask me, How can I walk in these heels?” and I answer with the best compliment I remember from a woman who lives in Paris.

She said:

“Since I wore your heels, Christian, I know Paris. Heels permit me to take the time to look at things.”

High heels give you time to think, to look at your surroundings – and they permit men to stop you. Women should live to the rhythm of high-heeled shoes!’

You should definitely own these shoes! Louboutin shoes aren’t produced for mass consumption and will certainly be a good piece in your collection. They are sexy and women wearing them are instantly recognizable.

You can take my Fendi baguette, you can take my ring and my watch, but don’t take my Manolo Blahniks.”

This phrase pronounced by Carrie Bradshaw, the shoe-loving main character of Sex And The City, when she found herself face-to-face with a mugger, has become world-known and illustrates the common love to Manolo Blahnik shoes.

No wonder we all love them so much. They are perfect – perfect-looking and perfect to wear, feminine and comfortable.

These shoes are popular with celebrities, fashion icons and ordinary women as well.

The story of Manolo Blahnik began in Santa Cruz in the Canary Islands. The family lived far from civilization but often travelled to Paris and Madrid, where his parents ordered clothes from his mother’s favorite couturiers, like Cristobál Balenciaga, and his father’s tailor.

His mother liked to improvise and once she persuaded the local Canary Islands cobbler to teach her how to make Catalan espadrilles (that were in fashion at that time) from ribbons and laces. Manolo was small but loved watching her making them.

I’m sure I acquired my interest in shoes genetically or at least through my fingers, when I was allowed to touch them as they were made,” he said later.

Manolo’s mother used to subscribe to fashion magazines, such as US Vogue, Glamour and Silhuetos, which would dock at the Canary Islands months after their original publication. So, Manolo was more or less aware of what was trendy at the continent.

He’s never had any formal training in shoe-making. As he said to his friend Michael Roberts he didn’t need it, because he has got “the best taste in the world.”

His professional career as a shoe-maker began in 1970 when Zapanta store offered him a job. He had to move to London but he wasn’t afraid of changes. His first collection was created for Ossie Clark, one of the most famous fashion houses in Britain and soon he opened his own shoe shop in the heart of London.

His first collection was a great success and inspired by that Manolo Blanhik kept on creating his fantastic shoes. Since that time he has collaborated with plenty of famous designers and fashion houses, such as Perry Ellis, Calvin Klein, Jean Muir, Zandra Rhodes, Yves St. Laurent, Christian Dior, Rifat Ozbek and many others.

However, perfection by Manolo Blahnik costs lots of money and ordinary women can hardly afford them. But on the other hand perfection is priceless!

That’s the reason why many celebs just don’t think about the price.

Manolo Blahnik is one of those few designers whose name has become synonymous with their product.

“Manolo” is used to describe very expensive, very beautiful shoes: even by the millions of people who have never actually seen a pair of Manolo Blahniks and could not even dream of spending several hundred dollars to buy them.

Blahnik is solely responsible for the design and prototype of every shoe that bears his name. He prefers to work alone with no apprentices or assistants sketching his shoes, chiseling the wooden lasts on which they are molded and creating the heels.

Besides, he personally supervises their production and even works on the illustrations for his advertising campaigns.

I have the advantage of study,” he says. “I’ve been studying the art of the shoe… for over twenty years. I know every process. I know how to cut and cut away here (the side of the shoe) and still make it so that it stays on the foot. And the secret of toe cleavage, a very important part of the sexuality of the shoe. You must only show the first two cracks. And the heel. Even if it’s twelve centimeters high it still has to feel secure – and that’s a question of balance. That’s why I carve each heel personally myself – on the machine and then by hand with a chisel and file, until it’s exactly right.”

It is hard work but it is highly appreciated by the lovers. It’s not a secret that shoes by the “king of stilettos” are exceptionally feminine and those ladies who had a chance to put on Manolo Blahniks even once don’t want to wear any other shoes since that.

Dorothy Steps into the 21st Century with The Wizard of Oz Ruby Slipper Collection.

Well-armed fans of The Wizard of Oz looking for their own pair of red ruby slippers can choose from a collection made by 19 famous designers and decorated with red Swarovski crystals. The collection was presented September 4 at Saks Fifth Avenue, NY.

Moschino Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers

From platform to stiletto heels, all the shoes from the Ruby Slipper Collection, unveiled at a party to mark New York Fashion Week, are settled on the 1939 Hollywood movie starring Judy Garland as Dorothy.

What would Dorothy wear now?”’ Michael Fink, Saks Fifth Avenue fashion director, told Reuters in an interview.

Then it was like

Go wild! Have fun with it!’ That’s the only direction we gave the designers,” he added.

The Slipper collection was instructioned by Swarovski, which sacrificed the crystals, in partnership with Saks and Warner Brothers and contains shoes by a dozen designers ranging from Gwen Stefani, Abaete to Manolo Blahnik.

Dorothy’s Ruby Slipper by Manolo Blahnik

Betsey Johnson, who is known for whimsical women styles, used red tulle bows on a platform shoe with chunky crystals.

Dorothy’s a modern girl. She’s clubbing. So she’s got a downtown funky shoe with her little anklets,” Fink said, showing a display window at the store where a 20-something Dorothy mannequin wore a green mini-dress with Betsey’s ruby slippers to the Emerald Club.

Jimmy Choo Dorothy Ruby Slippers

Designer Jimmy Choo presented four-inch red snakeskin stilettos with ruby crystals on the vamp, while singer Gwen Stefani’s L.A.M.B. gave Dorothy a pair with red satin ankle bows.

Gwen Stefani Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers

Shoe brand A. Testoni for the women’s and mens luxury market is specializing in exotic skins and luxury leathers, as shown in their “Ruby Slipper”. They have a passion for creating cosy fashion shoes. There is a Swarovski enchased heart on the bow of the shoe

The heart represents A. Testoni’s emotion for creating shoes that is snug as well as where Dorothy’s heart was and wanted to be at home.

Alberta Ferretti

Designer Alberta Ferretti took part in this project and designed a pair of ruby wedges.

Abaete

Each pair is worth at least $1000, adding that plain leather couture shoes at Saks begin at $650.

Adrian Greenberg

But since the footwear will be raffled for charity next year, in conjunction with the 70th anniversary of the movie’s release, each pair could easily fetch much more.

Christian Louboutin

Stuart Weitzman

Mui-Miu

Mom of 2 children Gwen Stefani is one of 19 designers who have been chosen by Warner Bros. Consumer Products and CRYSTALLIZED(TM) – Swarovski Elements to create their own version of Dorothy’s footwear in honor of the 70th anniversary of the classic movie next year.

The shoes collection will be presented  in a special event on September 4 at New York’s famous department store Saks Fifth Avenue.

The 19 pairs of shoes – designed by fashion icons including Christian Louboutin, Alberta Ferretti, Diane von Furstenberg, Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo,Moschino and Oscar de la Renta – will then be displayed as part of New York Fashion Week, in the city’s Bryant Park, before being taken around the U.S. on a tour and then being auctioned off, with proceeds going to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

Gwen, who is considered one of the world’s most stylish women, already has her own fashion line L.A.M.B.