My Inbox Is Full of Fashion Collabs—This Manolo Blahnik x Balenciaga One Actually Made Me Click

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Balenciaga
(Image credit: Balenciaga)

Balenciaga's newly installed creative director, Pierpaolo Piccioli, won't try to sugarcoat it. “This collaboration came to life for very personal reasons. I simply like Manolo. That’s it," Piccioli said in a statement. Fair enough! "I know him personally and have admired him for a long time," he continued. "To me, Manolo Blahnik is synonymous with elegance, and as he’s Spanish, like Cristóbal Balenciaga, there’s a certain shared sensibility there."

The new collab consists of three crystal-embellished styles: slingback heels, slingback kitten heels, and slingback mules. The first style comes in four different colors: black, gray, yellow, and green. Meanwhile, the kitten heels come in black and purple, and the mules come in black and green. "Asymmetrical crystal leaf ornaments are hand-embroidered to drape across a low-cut vamp, echoing Blahnik’s distinct flair for applying equal parts preciosity and grace, fusing jewelry with footwear," Balenciaga explained in a press release. "These elegant gestures simultaneously recall archival 1960s Balenciaga bijoux, underscoring a consistent kinship and aesthetic symbiosis between creators." Scroll down to shop the full collection.

Balenciaga shoes

(Image credit: Balenciaga)
Erin Fitzpatrick
Erin Fitzpatrick
Associate Director, Fashion News

Erin got her start as a Who What Wear intern in 2011—back when the site only published a single story per day. (We have since increased that number twentyfold.) She graduated magna cum laude from USC and lives in Los Angeles. In college, she also interned at Refinery29, where she was promoted to editorial assistant and then assistant editor. After nearly three years at R29, she came back to WWW in 2015, where she is now the Associate Director of Fashion News. From the Oscars to the Met Gala, she leads the site's entire red carpet coverage strategy. She specializes in celebrity and fashion news but also enjoys writing travel features and runway reports. She frequently contributes to WWW's social accounts and has a sizable following on her personal TikTok.