Manolo Blahnik Drawings

They look like cherries on the twig, fluttering ribbons, anti-vandal spikes, a moebius strip, a chequer board, bracelets, a cockatoo, raspberry canes, dandelions clocks. They simultaneously incapacitate and empower. Amanda Harlech writes about "the complex surgery that lifts and angles the foot so you walk as a dream of yourself."

Undeniably potent, they convey an electric charge to both wearer and observer. Julia Reed says she wears them for "the same reason that some men carry loaded guns." Somewhat reminiscent of Roland Emett's cartoons, Blahnik's exquisite drawings are blueprints for some of the most potent garments ever made, though the towering results will spend most of their existence hiding in the dark, waiting for their moment in the limelight.