Manolo Blahnik to be awarded 2015 Couture Council Award by FIT

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Jul 30, 2015

The Couture Council will honor Manolo Blahnik with its 2015 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion. Andre Leon Talley will present the award to Blahnik on September 9, 2015 at the annual award luncheon at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City.

The Couture Council Advisory Board selects an Artistry of Fashion Award recipient every year. The Board, which consists of fashion retailers, editors, journalists and curators like Hamish Bowles, Suzy Menkes, and Pamela Golbin, has selected Blahnik for his 40 year legacy of shoe design that has attracted celebrities such as Nicole Kidman, Victoria Beckham, Rihanna and Sarah Jessica Parker.

“It is one of the greatest accolades of my life to be awarded the 2015 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion,” said Manolo Blahnik. “I very much admire the Couture Council’s invaluable support of The Museum at FIT. It is imperative that we cultivate the culture of fashion and continue educating about design and artisanship. The museum does just that and in very clever and innovative ways. After all it is fashion that makes the world so much more colorful and interesting, so we must nurture and celebrate talent. I am very much looking forward to being there and to share my excitement with everyone.”

Former Vogue editor-in-chief, Diana Vreeland, encouraged Blahnik, in 1970 to concentrate on his shoe design after he showed her his theater designs. In 1971, he began making shoes in London and two years later he opened his first shop in London’s Chelsea.
 
Past Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion winners include Ralph Rucci, Alber Elbaz, Isabel Toledo, Dries Van Noten, Karl Lagerfeld, Valentino, the late Oscar de la Renta, Michael Kors, and most recently, Carolina Herrera.
 
This year’s luncheon co-chairs are Carole Divet Harting and Darcy Rigas, and the honorary co-chairs are Joan Julliet Buck and Amy Fine Collins.