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Sexy soul of shoemaking
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Sexy, glamorous, expensive -- Manolo Blahnik has become a byword for fabulous footwear. His stilettos are worn by the rich and famous, showcased on the hugely successful "Sex in the City" and have been described as better than sex. But the man behind the shoes still calls himself "an old fashioned shoe designer." After 30 years in the business, he still sketches each new shoe himself, carves the wood, chooses the colour and textile and sculpts the heel -- a process that has earned him a loyal band of devotees. Of Madonna's oft-repeated comment that a pair of Blahniks were better than sex, he said: "That is very complimentary, but...it's been so long ago that I feel embarrassed." Another of his fans is "Sex and the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker -- "a wonderful woman, she is absolutely exquisite" -- whose character has an addiction to the shoes, costing about $400 a pair. The success of the television show has boosted demand for Blahnik's shoes, but he is determined to keep his business small. "I wished we had more factories and more productions, but we are very small, we do what we can. We didn't expect such a demand, so I am not a mass producer of shoes," he told CNN. As a child, Blahnik would dress his dog in little shoes with ribbons. "My little dog was my first victim. Since I was two or three he was there with me, my companion, so I was doing shoes for him, little dresses. " His first desire was to design sets for movies and the theatre, but after a meeting with U.S. Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, he was encouraged to focus on shoes.
Born in the Canary Islands in 1942, he began an apprenticeship in England. "[It was] with a wonderful factory, which disappeared now. It was heaven, the old craft, beautiful things, beautiful materials, done by the same people for 70 years." He loves the way a high-heeled shoe can transform a woman. "You just put high heels on and you change. That is possibly why men love high heels, because you walk differently, even if you don't want to, your body moves differently." His inspiration comes from Italian movies and American comedies in the 1950s and 1960s. When designing he "creates a scene." "I know the woman who is wearing it, what kind of woman who will be wearing this, what she would say to the other. " He does not mind what his shoes are worn with, "as long as they are worn and worn beautifully, I like it."
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