Photo – Manolo Blahnik ©
Legendary shoe designer Manolo Blahnik began making and selling shoes in London in the early 1970s, in a career spanning almost 50 years. He has since become one of the world’s most influential footwear makers. True to his early days, Manolo Blahnik still sketches each shoe design by hand and personally perfects the lasts and heels of his exquisitely crafted footwear. Manolo Blahnik is now a worldwide brand, sold in boutiques and department stores across more than 40 countries. While the core business is still women’s shoes, Manolo Blahnik also produces bags, belts, socks, other accessories and men’s footwear.
“Our team grew significantly within a short period of time,” says Bruno Oghittu, Digital and Logistic Director at Manolo Blahnik. “We wanted a PLM solution that could seamlessly integrate with our accounting software, PIM system, inventory management platform and wholesale ordering system. The right PLM system would also automate processes, reduce duplicate data entry and share data efficiently with suppliers.”
Manolo Blahnik selected Centric as their PLM partner in 2016 and implemented core modules of the Centric 8 PLM platform.
As Oghittu says, “We selected the system primarily because of its flexibility. It’s possible to set up the system exactly how you want, and there’s no hard coding involved, so the software can be updated without any major issues. So far, Centric has never said ‘No, it’s not possible’. Centric is used by many major shoe brands, including luxury brands which gave us confidence that they truly understood our industry.”
Interestingly, Manolo Blahnik chose to do a ‘back-to-front’ implementation, starting with the production side and the supplier portal before tackling product development and design.
