An exhibition match made in heaven sees Manolo Blahnik backing the new V&A show about Marie Antoinette. Kristina Blahnik, the CEO of Manolo Blahnik, reflects on her uncle’s lifelong devotion to the iconic French Queen.
The delight Kristina Blahnik, the CEO of Manolo Blahnik, conveys when she speaks about the Victoria & Albert Museum’s new exhibition Marie Antoinette Style, is undeniable. “Manolo has very publicly, always been enormously inspired by Marie Antoinette. She is one of the great loves of his life,” Blahnik recounts about the moment the museum first approached her about collaborating on the exhibition. And in what felt like the blink of an eye she locked up exclusive sponsorship of the show. “It has to be Manolo with Marie Antoinette, because I don’t think there’s anyone living on this planet that adores her or knows more about her than he does.”
That passion has indeed been lifelong. Blahnik’s mother famously read him Stefan Zweig’s 1932 biography of Marie Antoinette as a bedtime story. “From a very young age, he just absorbed and consumed culture tirelessly, and history as well. She is one of the historical figures that captured his imagination, and she is a constant that has been there his whole life,” confirms the CEO. The romance, the tragedy, and the queen’s uncompromising search for beauty all resonates with the legendary shoe designer. “He admires her as a strong woman. Her constant search for creativity and artisanry, the hunt for the exquisite. That has always resonated with him,” shares Blahnik with a smile.
The V&A exhibition, which opened this September in London, is the first of its kind in the UK, showcasing the French queen’s monumental impact on fashion, design, and culture, while also displaying Blahnik’s own creations inspired by her. “It wasn’t about us trying to create a brand identity or brand moment alongside it. It was simply, this is a gift from Manolo to her,” the CEO said firmly. “It was so important for the story of Marie Antoinette to be told. Manolo and our company are not about pushing our product, pushing our brand. We’re actually more interested in using our craft to open doors of curiosity for people to learn more.”
Still, the collaboration has led to something new for the house: a capsule collection of 11 Marie Antoinette-inspired shoes, designed by Manolo and available exclusively at Manolo Blahnik boutiques. “He designed five very different pumps. He initially said, look, I’m just imagining her in her time, what would she have worn? He found some beautiful vintage fabrics, very limited in their existence. We were only able to create thirty shoes in one fabric. These are collectors’ pieces,” reveals Blahnik. “Then I worked alongside him to create the modern-day interpretation. We asked ‘how would Marie Antoinette wear it if she was alive today?’ That’s when the sandals, the much higher heels, and the mules were born. Most of her shoes were pumps, but we translated the spirit of her style into pieces for the modern woman.”
For Blahnik, visiting the exhibition itself was a revelation. “What I was not expecting was the completeness of her portraits. There were probably only about twelve to fifteen portraits painted during her lifetime, most of them by a female painter, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. On the wall when you walk in one of the first things you see is the actual original of one of her very few portraits. I was overwhelmed before I’d even taken two steps into the exhibition. I did not expect to see such an invaluable piece of history.”
The exhibition, which runs through May 2026, also includes original sketches, textiles, and decorative objects from the queen’s world, alongside Blahnik’s reimaginings. And for the 82 year-old shoe designer it was the actual little objects that Marie Antoinette used during her lifetime, the crockery from the Petit Trianon, the fabrics she wore, that fascinated him the most in the exhibit. “You go through this journey of this immense impact she had in her lifetime, and then the enormity of her impact today. You walk into a room of twentieth and twenty-first century influence, and she’s still alive,” marvels the CEO.
That enduring influence is part of what excites Blahnik the most about the exhibit and the impact it could have on the public. “Without tradition, we are nothing,” she says, invoking a motto Visconti once shared with Manolo at a Milanese dinner back in the 1970s. “We’ve embedded that into our storytelling as to why we are what we are, and why we are uncompromising in who we are,” Blahnik says. “We’re not going to do trainers, because that is not what we’re about. And without tradition, we are nothing. Modernity doesn’t come from a vacuum, it comes from the past, and the reinterpretation of the past. Marie Antoinette is testament to that,” she adds.
Blahnik also sees lessons that can be drawn from the queen’s story. Lessons that validated the beliefs, values, and mission of the brand that bears her uncle’s name. “She was uncompromising with the quality of materials she used, and she had the level of curiosity to learn more, to try things differently. She reinvented so many things,” explains Blahnik. “That’s what Manolo does. He takes elements from the past and deconstructs and reconstructs and creates something completely new and unexpected.”
For the CEO, this exhibition is more than a sponsorship, more than a marketing initiative—it’s about reaffirming the DNA of a house built on intellectual curiosity, artisanry, and an abiding love of beauty. “Marie Antoinette is everywhere all the time. She might be quieter some seasons, sometimes louder. But there’s always a button here, a ruffle there, a pleat. It’s never just a shoe, it’s an expression of intellect, of knowledge, of culture, of craftsmanship.”
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Images: Supplied & Featured Image: Supplied
