Manolo Blahnik On Marie Antoinette And His New Rococo-Inspired Capsule

Childhood bedtime stories are usually the stuff of make-believe, but not for Manolo Blahnik. The legendary 82-year-old designer vividly remembers his mother reading him chapters from Stefan Zweig’s biography of Marie Antoinette growing up, sparking a lifelong interest in the fashionable French queen that has shaped much of his career. “I was fascinated not just by her extravagant gowns and exquisite hair, but by her theatrics of it all. The way she dressed and presented herself was a kind of performance that has stayed with me,” Blahnik enthuses, sharing that there’s always been a hint of 18th-century elegance in his oeuvre, be it a dainty, ‘Saint Huberty’ heel (the queen’s favorite) or a bejeweled buckle. “I’m drawn to detail, embellishments, to shoes that feel like little works of art,” he adds.

For his latest project, Blahnik has immersed himself in Marie Antoinette’s world once more with a limited-edition capsule (with exclusive styles now available to shop at NET-A-PORTER) to celebrate the opening of Marie Antoinette Style at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, of which his eponymous brand is the official sponsor. Curated by Dr. Sarah Grant, the exhibition celebrates Antoinette’s enduring legacy and profound influence on the worlds of fashion, decorative art and design, both in her own time and over the past 232 years since her death. “I truly believe Marie Antoinette continues to fascinate us because she was never just a queen; she became an idea and a kind of myth,” Blahnik explains. “She lived her life as if it were a type of art form. She understood instinctively that fashion could be a form of power.”

The exhibition features 250 magnificent objects, from elaborate court gowns, jaw-dropping jewels and surviving silk slippers that once belonged to the queen, to modern-day interpretations of her style. It includes a curation of Blahnik’s whimsical, custom-made designs for Sofia Coppola’s cult 2006 film based on the monarch, starring Kirsten Dunst. These pieces are shown alongside Blahnik’s original, hand-drawn sketches (which are on display for the first time), offering a rare insight into the designer’s creative process. “Drawing is not an exercise; it is pure instinct and all about the feeling,” he says. “I want to capture the spirit of the shoe before I think about the details. Sometimes it happens in a single sketch; other times, I am sketching many pages like a madman until suddenly I look at one and think – that’s it!”

Working with Coppola and Oscar-winning costume designer Milena Canonero on the film Marie Antoinette was “an absolute joy,” says Blahnik. “I remember Milena telling me, ‘Do what you want, don’t be too academic, don’t dilute the idea,’” he recalls. And dilute he did not. Free from the usual constraints that come with designing a commercial collection, Blahnik was able to indulge in the pure fantasy of immortalising Antoinette’s extravagant style on screen. In the film’s famous shopping montage, the designer’s sugary confections, each crafted entirely by hand in England using luxurious Lyon silks and festooned with rosettes, ribbons and bows, played a central role in capturing the frivolity and flamboyance so often associated with the queen’s court.

Inside NET-A-PORTER’s Incredible Women of 2024 celebration at London’s V&A

Incredible authors Bonnie Garmus and Coco Mellors in conversation at London’s V&A Museum

The people featured in this story are not associated with NET-A-PORTER and do not endorse it or the products shown