Manolo Blahnik's crystal heels take Hankyu Umeda's luxury stage for a week
Hankyu Umeda is giving Manolo Blahnik's crystal-covered Hangisi pump and four other one-off styles a week on its fifth-floor luxury stage from 23 September — a reminder that in Japan, the department-store floor is still where a single-brand shoe event finds its stage.
Hankyu Umeda, the Osaka flagship of H2O Retailing's Hankyu Hanshin Department Stores, will run a week-long pop-up devoted to Manolo Blahnik's crystal-covered footwear from 23 to 29 September, the store said in a release. The event occupies Kotokoto Stage 51 on the store's fifth-floor "HANKYU LUXURY" stage, a slot the flagship uses to rotate single-brand luxury activations rather than commit the space to any one name permanently.
The line-up spans five styles finished in one-off crystal editions of Manolo Blahnik's signature shapes: the Hangisi, a square buckle pump the house describes as its "number one silhouette," priced at ¥258,500; the Lurum crystal-leaf mule at ¥297,000; the Nadira asymmetric branch pump at ¥262,900; a block-heel Hangisibar at ¥269,500; and a Plinianu short boot at ¥341,000, according to Hankyu Hanshin.
The venue's own name is the tell: "HANKYU LUXURY" is the stage Hankyu Umeda uses through the year to rotate single-brand luxury activations rather than commit the space to one name permanently. A crystal-only capsule timed to a single week fits exactly that mould — dense with product story, gone before the floor has to answer for whether it sold through.