His parents wanted him to be a diplomat, but the Canary Islands born Manolo Blahnik,moved to Paris in 1965 in the hopes of becoming a set designer. He moved to London in 1968 and wrote for Italian Vogue. He says that it was a trip to New York City in 1970 that changed his career trajectory. While in NYC, Blahnik took his sketches to Diana Vreeland at American Vogue. Vreeland immediately honed in on his shoes sketches and encouraged Blahnik to concentrate only on designing shoes. Luckily for all of us, he took that advice and learned everything he could about making shoes, not in school, but in the actual factories. A self acknowledged perfectionist, Blahnik still oversees the production in the factories today.

He began to produce shoes in 1971, and received worldwide acclaim when he designed shoes for the runway show of the most important 1970's London fashion designer, Ossie Clark. His shoes were worn and mentioned often in "Sex and the City" in the 1990's, which further skyrocketed his name into the fashion universe.

When asked "why shoes?" Blahnik replied; "Because they have a life for themselves: You have them on the floor; you look at them as objects. A dress, you have to wear it. I also love the way you can see people walking in shoes, how they decorate feet. They bring a refreshment to people’s lives. They’re entertainment for women—or their husbands."