Forget Kill Bill, Uma Thurman Channels Her Inner Carrie Bradshaw at a Lunch Honoring Manolo Blahnik
Manolo Blahnik at FIT’s Couture Council Luncheon with Uma Thurman. Photo: Getty Images
On Wednesday afternoon, FIT’s Couture Council gathered for its annual luncheon, and for the first time in 10 years, the guest of honor and recipient of the Artistry in Fashion Award was a shoe designer. But not any shoe designer, the one and only Manolo Blahnik. “Manolo is the first shoe designer to become a superstar,” noted FIT’s president Valerie Steele, while presenter Uma Thurman confided to the crowd that Blahnik was, “the only man who has been with me every step of the way. Literally.” That particular line sound like it came out of the Carrie Bradshaw playbook, which got us to wondering if the shoe guru ever gets tired of the reference. “No because I’m grateful for this character and Ms. Parker, but it’s been such a long time,” he told Yahoo Style before describing his new bags which were, in part, inspired by the famed character.
Alec and Hilaria Baldwin. Photo: Getty Images
Anna Wintour, Carolina Herrera, and Martha Stewart were also among the attendees, but their stylized looks were no match for the ladies who lunch crowd, many of whom donned their most coveted Manolos. Although that wasn’t the case for everyone. Social swan Jean Shafiroff confided that while she loved her pink, kitten heeled pair, they didn’t go with her look. “I’m wearing Louboutins because I’m short and I need the height,” she said before doing multiple twirls in her green B. Michael cocktail dress for the guests of her table, including the designer of her frock. Hilaria Baldwin who said that she “has too many shoes to count” looked fab in her black jumpsuit, even though she opted for black platform heels instead of the slim lines of a Manolo pump. Perhaps shoes are less of a focus in her family? “Hair and makeup,” her husband, Alec, said definitively about the key to a woman’s style. “I think that’s key to a woman feeling good about herself, but men don’t look at women’s shoes. Some do. And even what they wear. I mean women are always going to stay within a certain boundary. You look at a woman’s face. A lot of times you’ll wonder if those clothes come off eventually.” Hey now!
Martha Stewart. Photo: Getty Images
A few of the craftier attendees opted to wear their Manolos on their head as hats rather than on their feet, which surely had to delight Barneys’ Creative Director Simon Doonan to no end. He was not wearing Manolos, but he could have. “Of COURSE I have are you insane?” he balked when asked by Yahoo Style if he’d ever donned the fancy footwear. “I been in the fashion world for 40 years, you think I haven’t tried on a pair of Manolos? Especially on window night back in the ’70s and ‘80s, I would want to keep everybody motivated! I have very small feet and great balance, a low center of gravity, I’m fabulous in a pair of Manolos. I can handle any height.”
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