The Couture Council of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology has just announced that Manolo Blahnik will receive the 2015 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion. The honor will take place a the annual award luncheon on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015, at Lincoln Center in New York City. With the footwear icon’s prolific career spanning more than 40 years, the organization cites his longstanding dedication to craft and wholly original design as award-worthy.
“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 in a statement. “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.”
FIT President Dr. Joyce F. Brown also released a statement. “Manolo Blahnik is one of the world’s most accomplished and influential footwear designers. Superbly crafted in the finest materials, his highly coveted shoes — which have been called “magical totems of success and femininity” — reflect his timeless and singular vision. We are delighted to be honoring him.”
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Dr. Valerie Steele, director of The Museum at FIT and chair of the Couture Council Advisory Board (which also includes Ken Downing, Linda Fargo and Pamela Golbin) added that Blahnik is integral to fashion and pop culture’s current obsession with luxury shoes. “It was Manolo who kicked off contemporary fashion’s obsession with shoes, as viewers of Sex in the City will recall,” she said, noting that she is expecting the awards luncheon to be “our most photogenic event yet.”
Past recipients include names such as Carolina Herrera, Michael Kors, Oscar de la Renta and Karl Lagerfeld.
Click on the slideshow below to view Blahnik’s fall ’15 shoe collection.
