Fashion powerhouse Manolo Blahnik may be known for his flawless footwear and inspiring life-long design career. Now the designer is using his creative genius to help others care for their mental health while in quarantine.

The legendary shoe designer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lofficielsingapore.com/fashion/hitting-the-high-heel-notes-the-story-of-manolo-blahnik">Manolo Blahnik</a> has always had many creative outlets, which have served as&nbsp;a constant source of inspiration throughout his 50-year design career. As a revered creative, Blahnik is using his platform in order to provide those same creative outlets as&nbsp;mental health resources, and share creative inspiration to his fans and consumers alike&nbsp;as many of us sit at home for days on end due to the coronavirus.

Last week, the designer&nbsp;launched a&nbsp;new project in partnership with the UK Mental Health Foundation, an organisation Blahnik has chosen to support and donate to over the years,&nbsp;called the Smile Initiative. It aims to use resources and mental health management tips from the organisation, and turn them&nbsp;into tangible at-home activities you can use.&nbsp;Today Blahnik releases <a href="https://www.manoloblahnik.com/us/smile.html">The Art of Colouring</a> on his website. You can download original sketches of his classic (and some of his personal favourite) shoe designs, and colour them in yourself. Colouring, though it may sound elementary, is credited to help relax the fear centre of the brain and so&nbsp;reduce anxiety, improve&nbsp;sleep and focus&nbsp;as well as motor skills and vision, and deliver a hefty&nbsp;dose of escapism as relief from your daily (sometimes hourly) news feeds.&nbsp;

Also greatly inspired by film, Blahnik talked to L&#39;Officiel&nbsp;about how his favourite movies&nbsp;were a major source of creativity for his designs over the years. Specifically, as a fan of period pieces, these films not only informed his personal creative process, but provided a sense of imaginary transportation to a world far away. A feeling that most of us movie-buffs can no doubt relate to. Below, Blahnik shares his all-time favourite classic&nbsp;films and what each one means to him.

DEATH INSURANCE

By Billy Wilder, released in 1944

Barbara Stanwyck plays the role of a provocative housewife who seduces an insurance salesman&nbsp; (played by Fred MacMurray)&nbsp;in a fraud scheme in which&nbsp;she murders her husband to receive an insurance payment, triggering the suspicion of an investigator.

&quot;I love all the films with Barbara Stanwyck. Her performance is incredible in Double Indemnity... And the images are superb.&quot;

Death Insurance

LA POSSEDEE

By Curtis Bernhardt, released in 1947

Joan Crawford plays the role of a mentally ill woman admitted to a psychiatric ward, and reveals her complex story about how she ended up there. A dramatic story of a woman&#39;s obsession with her ex-lover.

La Possedee

ALL ABOUT EVE

By Joseph L. Mankiewicz, released in 1950

Bette Davis, a respected Broadway mega-star, hires the ambitious young fan &quot;Eve&quot; (played by Anne Baxter) as her personal assistant. But it seems that Eve has a devious&nbsp;plan to overcome the big star and steal her life.

&quot;Bette Davis is simply spectacular.&quot;

All About Eve

REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE

By Nicholas Ray, released in 1955

Villain Jim Stark, played by James Dean, settles in a new city to wipe his past clean.&nbsp;However, being the new kid in the neighbourhood and falling in love with Judy (played by Natalie Wood), who is the current neighbourhood tough guy&#39;s girlfriend, is causing him serious problems.

&quot;What a wonderful film, James Dean is an icon, and this jacket: I had the same in red leather!&quot;

Rebel Without A Cause

AND GOD CREATED THE WOMAN

By Roger Vadim, released in 1956

Brigitte Bardot plays the role of a sexually liberated young woman&nbsp;in St Tropez. Married but still craving freedom by her own definition, her naive husband tries to keep her while she romances with a trio of men.

&quot;Brigitte Bardot has always been a huge source of inspiration for me through her beauty and her acting, so elegant, feminine and beautiful.&quot;

And God Created The Woman

CHEETAH

De Luchino Visconti, released in 1963

The Prince of Salina, a noble aristocrat of impeccable integrity, tries to preserve his family and his social class in the midst of the social upheavals in Sicily in the 1860s. With Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale.

&ldquo;Visconti represents the quintessence of European visual culture. All his films are the vision of an artist captivated by beauty and sublimated in all its forms. The leopard is so beautifully made. &quot;

Manolo Blahnik On His Favourite Classic Films And Handling Mental Health During Quarantine

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