Manolo Blahnik: We met not that long
ago. But before that, I saw your first
collection and I went mad because it
was so strong. It was just your vision:
completely different to what I had seen
anywhere else in London, or anywhere.
Grace Wales Bonner: I have always
been a fan, but I did a photograph
with Lord Snowdon...
MB: Ah, poor Tony.
GWB: His daughter Frances wanted
him to photograph my collection
and you had just started designing
your amazing men’s collection. I alsoloved how feminine your shoes were,
because my menswear is about beauty
really and we hadn’t met at that point,
so Frances kindly introduced us and I
brought my portfolio and I showed you
the photographs.
MB: And I loved it to death. I said at
the time I think I felt drunk for two or
three days.
GWB: It was really fun. We just laughed
and we had a good time and it was really
exciting. It is always such a pleasure to
be with you. You’re always very fun and
very passionate about making “colour
storytelling”. It’s an approach we share,
I guess: how provocative it can be. And
also the boundary between fantasy
and reality, these are things that really
interest me. But, yes, the sensuality in
the expression is super interesting. It’s
kind of its own world. There are infinite
possibilities that excite me.
MB: You like extraordinary materials.
You love glamorous materials and so
do I. You like crocodile, beads, feathers,
things that usually people do not think
about it. You have this incredible sense
of colour and sense of design. That’s
what I loved about you first. I don’t have
fashions. I don’t follow anything. But
when I know somebody is going to be
OK, I just know it’s going to be forever.
And when I see this person it just really
excites me.
GWB: It’s been really encouraging to
have someone who I admire believe
in my work and encourage me and
see something in it. To have that
recognition so early in my career was
really amazing for me. After my first
collection I was starting to meet more
people in the industry, but a few really
important moments – such as the shoot
with Lord Snowdon and meeting you- have been really pivotal. At different
points in your life you just find your
community among different generations
and I think what I am doing has a
different kind of spirit that doesn’t
feel contemporary in some ways...
MB: But it is contemporary! In your
really short life you have captured
something extrasensorial that not many
people have now, or at least not many
of the designers have. I mean, I could be
wrong, but this is my perception of you.
GWB: To me, collaboration is a really
important part of my development and
practice and I think that I always find new
ways of thinking about things through
finding like-minded people who help
me to understand things from a broader
perspective. It’s really important for me
to find people to collaborate with and
that expands from writers to musicians to
visual artists. So it’s quite cool and it helps
me to understand.
MB: I have learnt from your work because
I learn from everybody. And lately I
have been learning that what you do is
beautiful. You have to revolt, you have to
do something to break the mould, even
if sometimes it doesn’t work, it’s not
commercial or it’s an absolute disaster.
You have to do that and you have done
that with your own vision.
GWB: I’ve learnt [from you] to be
uncompromising about vision, but also
to create a world that really reflects
your values and who you are. I think it’s
amazing to create something that really
reflects who you are. I really aspire to
be able to create something like that.
MB: I don’t see myself as a mentor. I see
myself as young! I’m fortunate I have got
this kind of mind. To me, it’s a collaboration
of joy. That’s all. Absolute joy.
GWB: That’s nice. The moments that I
am really proud of, that I get validationfrom, are through relationships, whether
through my peers or people that I really
respect in my work. For example, for the
Serpentine show I worked with certain
writers I have always admired and being
able to collaborate with them, work
with them, and for them to understand
something about me through that, that
means more to me.
MB: I think I [see our collaboration
continuing], otherwise I would not even
be here. Maybe we stay good friends in the
years to come or maybe we don’t. I don’t
know. This is life. But friendship for me
is the most important thing. It takes me a
long time to develop. I have 40-year-old
friendships and some of them are dying.
But I love loyalty and this feeling that
someone respects what you do. This is
important. In any culture, in any religion,
in any movement: respect.
GWB: Yes, I think respect is really
important. To find people that you can
understand and have common ground
with, that for me can be quite broad. It can
be someone from anywhere around the
world, any age. No matter how young or
old... it’s not important.Canaries-born citizen of the world
Manolo Blahnik, 76, is the whim-
sically minded genius behind
some of the most beautiful shoes
ever created. Having collaborated
with the likes of David Hockney, John
Galliano and Rihanna, it stands to reason he’s
now working with 28-year-old Grace Wales
Bonner, breakout star of British fashion and
2016 recipient of the Louis Vuitton Fashion
Prize, who, earlier this year, staged her own
multidisciplinary show at the Serpentine
Sackler Gallery in London, featuring the work
of artists, authors and poets she admires.
Over three collections, Blahnik’s creations
and Bonner’s spare, supremely focused sil-
houettes have restruck the balance between
apparel and accessories, combining to assure
their “May to September” collaboration
works like no other.Vision and validation underpins
a new collaboration between
the most recognisable name in
footwear and the award-winning
young British designer who
continues to shake up menswearStory by Bill Prince
Photograph by Charlie GrayManoloBlahnik& GraceWalesBonner‘ I don’t see myselfas a mentor. To me,it’s a collaborationof absolute joy’HairMiguel PerezMake-upAmanda Grossman09-19FeatureFashionMentors.indd 184 26/06/2019 09:51
152 GQ.CO.UK SEPTEMBER 2019