Manolo Blahnik On His Favourite Classic Films And Handling Mental Health During Quarantine

The legendary shoe designer Manolo Blahnik has always had many creative outlets, which have served as a constant source of inspiration throughout his 50-year design career. As a revered creative, Blahnik is using his platform in order to provide those same creative outlets as mental health resources, and share creative inspiration to his fans and consumers alike as many of us sit at home for days on end due to the coronavirus.

Last week, the designer launched a new project in partnership with the UK Mental Health Foundation, an organisation Blahnik has chosen to support and donate to over the years, called the Smile Initiative. It aims to use resources and mental health management tips from the organisation, and turn them into tangible at-home activities you can use. Today Blahnik releases The Art of Colouring on his website. You can download original sketches of his classic (and some of his personal favourite) shoe designs, and colour them in yourself. Colouring, though it may sound elementary, is credited to help relax the fear centre of the brain and so reduce anxiety, improve sleep and focus as well as motor skills and vision, and deliver a hefty dose of escapism as relief from your daily (sometimes hourly) news feeds. 

Also greatly inspired by film, Blahnik talked to L'Officiel about how his favourite movies were a major source of creativity for his designs over the years. Specifically, as a fan of period pieces, these films not only informed his personal creative process, but provided a sense of imaginary transportation to a world far away. A feeling that most of us movie-buffs can no doubt relate to. Below, Blahnik shares his all-time favourite classic films and what each one means to him.