A word from André Leon Talley

"Manolo Blahnik is one of the great visionary talents in fashion. His shoes express the strong history, the vibrant colors and the dignity of Spain. He is the Luchino Visconti of shoes, and like the Italian filmmaker, his work is refinement and meticulous detail.

I have seen women for more than four decades respond with true emotion when they select a pair of shoes in his elegant emporiums in London and New York or stores across the U.S.A. In Los Angeles and New York, when I have accompanied him on trunk shows to Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys, I have seen women line up with shoes asking him to autograph the soles. This happens frequently. Yes. Women will line up with armloads of new shoes and ask for the soles to be autographed. Some say these are shoes they will display on their boudoir tables or coffee tables as works of art.

As a poet and great craftsman, he responds to an inner universe, his own spiritual secret garden of enchantment, dreams and fantasy. He has always remained a true Spaniard, and without question, his work represents a man who has devoted his entire career to beauty, elegance and luxury with a sense of the unexpected. His entire legacy is his own universe, of wit, irreverence, luxury and practicality.

His shoes become soul mates in countless ways for women who invest in wardrobes of Manolo Blahnik.

I am proud to know Manolo Blahnik as a friend. I am very proud to know this man of great style, this gentleman, a true master.

With Manolo Blahnik, always delight in the unexpected!"