LONDON — Manolo Blahnik, the sole sponsor of the Victoria and Albert Museum show, “Marie Antoinette Style,” has heralded the launch of its Marie Antoinette-themed capsule with an installation at the Burlington Arcade.
“I have always adored Burlington Arcade and its enduring elegance and history. To see my designs come alive here in celebration of the ‘Marie Antoinette Style’ exhibition feels especially meaningful,” said Manolo Blahnik, the brand’s founder and creative director.
The designer, who has had a lifelong affection for the troubled French queen, personally designed the installation. For it, he rolled out a 540-foot pink carpet featuring roses and stripes across the length of the arcade.
The installation features a pink carpet.
Courtesy of Manolo Blahnik
He added: “Marie Antoinette was known for her instinctive sense of style….The way she created a language of beauty that still resonates centuries later.”
The label also installed 21 crystal chandeliers overhead. From them dangle nearly 100 hand-drawn illustrations of footwear from the capsule. Inspired by Antoinette’s Rococo footwear, candy-colored heels nod to the ribbons, rosettes and bows often associated with her style.
Shoes from the capsule.
Courtesy of Manolo Blahnik
Many of Antoinette’s personal pieces can be viewed at the V&A’s comprehensive exhibition, which features her Sèvres porcelain tableware from the Petit Trianon and a guillotine blade from 1793 that’s on display alongside the wrinkled white cotton chemise the queen donned for her execution.
There’s also the hand-tufted Manolo Blahnik shoes the designer created for Sofia Coppola’s 2006 Marie Antoinette film, alongside the queen’s own silk slippers, jewels from her private collection and intimate items from her toilette case.