Manolo Blahnik Drawings [ペーパーバック]

「私の靴はファッションではない、ジェスチャーだ」。鮮やかな色彩の奇抜なデザイン画や、彼の創造の真髄を巧みに伝えるスケッチが並ぶ本書のなかで、ブラニクはそう述べている。彼のデザイン画に描かれているのは、靴のみか、せいぜいが足を想像させるものだけだが、にもかかわらず、本書の134点（うちカラー125点）のイラストは力強いエネルギーと色彩に満ち、いまにもページから飛び出して、ウィンクして踊りまわりそうに思えるほどだ。ブラニクの靴は、そのデザイン画と同じく、まるで靴そのものをセクシーに擬人化したかのようで、美しい曲線に見事なヒールを持ち、宝石で飾られ、きらめいている。

本書の随所にはセレブリティーの言葉がちりばめられ、めくるめく気取りと遊びの感覚をいっそう高めている。マドンナはこう言っている。「ブラニクの靴はセックスよりすてき…しかもセックスよりも長持ちするわ」。「マノロの靴をはくだけで、思わずすれ違う男の人みんなに『ごきげんいかが』って言ってしまうのよ」と言うのはジョアン・リバース。ナオミ・キャンベルは、ブラニクを靴のゴッドファーザーと呼ぶ。そのほか、パロマ・ピカソ、アイザック・ミズラヒ、ビアンカ・ジャガーも登場し、アンナ・ウィントゥアー、アンドレ・レオン・タリー、アンナ・ピアッギといったヴォーグ誌の大物や、ニューヨーカー誌のマイケル・ロバーツによる紹介文も収録されている。レイアウトはブラニクの作品を尊重した趣のあるもので、サーカスのような色彩の絵に、グレイで書かれた最低限の文章が添えられ、ブラニクの見事な走り書きも見ることができる。

1970年代から2000年代まで、10年ごとにまとめられたコレクションは、多様で興味深く、美術館の目録にも劣らぬ資料的価値がある。靴を芸術と見るファッション愛好家やデザインの熱狂的ファンにとっては、心ひかれる1冊にちがいない。
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

For three decades, Manolo Blahniks shoes have held the fashion world spellbound. His sense of the theatrical wedded to the finest materials and superlative craftsmanship inspire fanatical devotion. Diane Von Furstenberg has more than 80 pairs; Paloma Picasso has been fan since the age of 14; and Sarah Jessica Parker, Anna Piaggi and Kate Moss, to name a few, are fellow addicts. Here, collected together for the first time, are over one hundred and twenty exquisite drawings that Blahnik makes at the outset of the design process. These sketches are executed with such exuberance and deftness that they have become as sought-after as the shoes themselves (they often fetch up to GBP10,000 at charity auctions). Inimitable in style, these drawings, beautifully reproduced in this book with special inks, vividly convey Blahniks unique vision.

My shoes are not fashion, they are gestures. So says Blahnik in a book that lays out his designs as brightly colored whimsies, sketches deftly convey the essences of his creations. Drawings show shoes alone or with a hint of foot and leg, and yet there is so much energy and color in the 134 illustrations (125 in color) that they seem to wink and pirouette off the page. As designs, the shoes are salacious cartoons of themselves, curvy and heeled, bejeweled and shimmery. Celeb quotes, interspersed throughout, heighten the spiraling sense of posturing and play. Madonna says, they are as good as sex... and they last longer. You just put on your Manolos and you automatically find yourself saying Hi sailor' to every man that walks by, says Joan Rivers. Naomi Campbell calls the man the godfather of sole. Paloma Picasso, Isaac Mizrahi, Bianca Jagger also check in, and there are introductory essays by Vogue titans Anna Wintour, AndrE Leon Talley and Anna Piaggi, as well as by Michael Roberts of the New Yorker. The tasteful layout defers to Blahnik's work, with minimalist gray text alongside the circusy colors, and Blahnik's fabulous cursive descriptions. Divided by decade, from the 1970s to the 2000s, the collection is diverse and fun, and as documentary as a museum catalogue. It should appeal to any fashionista or design aficionado anyone with a sense of shoes as art.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Manolo Blahnk's shoes inspire fanatical devotion. "Manolo Blahnk's shoes are as good as sex," Madonna has said. "And they last longer." Diane Von Furstenberg has more than eighty pairs; Paloma Picasso has been a fan since she was fourteen; Bianca Jagger and Kate Moss, to name just a few, are fellow addicts. For three decades, Blahnk's sense of the theatrical wedded to the finest materials and superlative craftsmanship have held the fashion world spellbound, and his creations have graced the catwalks of great designers from Yves Saint-Laurent to Isaac Mizrahi to John Galliano.

Here, collected together for the first time, are over one hundred exquisite drawings that Blahnk makes at the outset of the design process. These sketches are executed with such exuberance and deftness that they have become as sought after as the shoes themselves (they often fetch up to $15,000.00 at charity auctions). Inimitable in style, the drawings, beautifully reproduced in this book with special inks, vividly convey Blahnk's unique vision. Whether it's a Grecian sandal designed for Galliano, with a snake-like strap slithering up the calf, or an emerald- and bead-fringed satin mule, the seductive attention to detail in the drawings conjures up the shoe itself.

Illuminating introductions by Anna Wintour and Michael Roberts explore why Manolo Blahnk's shoes inspire such passion, and these are complemented throughout the book by the words of admirers including Suzie Menkes, Donatella Versace, and David Hockney. Michael Roberts also contributes a photographic essay showing Blahnk at work in his studio, making sketches, preparing the wooden lasts, and supervising the production of his shoes at his factories in Italy. A final "scrapbook" section includes Manolo Blahnk's own photographs of family, friends, and inspirational places. 150 illustrations, 120 in color.

Anna Wintour is the editor of American Vogue. Michael Roberts is fashion editor of The New Yorker and author of, among many other books, Jungle ABC (also published by Thames & Hudson).