Manolo Blahnik

Designer Manolo Blahnik's name has been well known amongst the rich and the famous for quite a while, but appearances in popular culture such as Joss Whedon’s Angel and HBO’s Sex and the City, brought the high end brand into mainstream America’s vernacular. In fact, the shoes worn by Sex and the City’s four leads became so popular that Manolo Blahniks became known as the “fifth star” of the show. From sandals to sligbacks, every Manolo Blahnik is known for its luxurious and elegant style with just a hint of whimsical thrown in for good measure. Consider Manolo Blahnik’s line of cage sandals. Blahnik says that when most people think of cage sandals, they think of Roman gladiators, Boadicea riding into battle, and aggressive, brown and black leather wearing warrior women. Not Blhanik. His cage sandals are designed with birds in mind. He thinks of them as containers for your “tiny parakeet toes” and dies them brilliant Bird of Paradise colors. No one knows more about these shoes than Manolo Blahnik himself who still designs and does the advertising for all his products, which are more like works of art, than footwear. As Blahnik puts it, the perfect cut lines and silhouette of his shoes “truly helps transform a woman.”