My Inbox Is Full of Fashion Collabs—This One Actually Made Me Click

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.