Manolo Blahnik recently returned from Moscow with news that would have been unthinkable even a year ago: Russian ladies – who famously love very high heels – are beginning to love flats even more.
“Any flats that I showed them they wanted immediately!” gasped Blahnik. “I’ve been doing flats since I started, every season, but so far heels have always been the winners. Then, two seasons ago, I started to notice a change. As well as certain heels, whatever flat styles we did almost always sold out.”
This is not only true in Russia: Blahnik’s red or blue striped linen “Esodo” Capri sandals have sold out everywhere from Liberty in London to Plum Concept in Beirut this summer, and he is expecting great things from his “Bath”, a patent leather brogue (£480) that comes in red or black for autumn/winter. And Blahnik is not the only footwear maestro to be experiencing the, well, heights of flats.
