“Manolo Blahnik Mary Janes?! I thought this was a myth about urban shoes!”
You’ve probably seen the iconic episode of Sex and the City. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) visits Vogue’s fashion closet, weasels her way to the shoe department filled with stilettos, and zeroes in on a pair of black Manolo Mary Janes. “Do you know what this is?” she excitedly exclaimed to her editor, Julian. “This is real patent leather!” If it doesn’t fit, please help me…I’m going to wear it anyway. ” It’s no wonder Carey tried to squeeze her feet into the chic shoes and fell completely in love with them. For 30 years, this shoe has remained one of Manolo’s most popular (and most difficult to find) heels.
Manolo Blahnik, formerly known as Campari, first introduced this elegant style in 1994, designing sophisticated Mary Janes as a successor to the more luxurious and flashy shoe styles of the late ’80s and early ’90s. “I went through a bit of the Baroque era and wanted something to counteract that, so I became a minimalist,” says Blahnik. Featuring pointy pumps and a Mary Jane strap that ran across the foot, it was first featured in an August 1994 Vogue editorial photographed by Arthur Elgort and starring Shalom Harlow. It didn’t take long for fashion lovers to take notice. The It shoe was born.
Photo by Arthur Elgort, Vogue, August 1994
