November 2015: Thrilled to meet the legendary JIMMY CHOO at a private event this Thursday in Kensington. Such an legendary icon and the man who fuelled one of my lethal addictions. He is nothing but a pure and utter gentleman, genius and one of the biggest inspirations in my life!
One happy girl.
ABOUT JIMMY CHOO
“When I first started, my father wouldn’t let me make a shoe. Instead, he said: ‘Sit and watch, sit and watch.’ For months and months, I did that.”
—Jimmy Choo
Jimmy Choo is a Fashion designer born in Penang, Malaysia in 1961.
Jimmy Choo used the craftsmanship he learned from his father, also a cobbler, to create some of the most coveted shoes in the world.
Jimmy Choo opened his first shop in Hackney in 1986 in an old hospital building.
Within two years of opening his shop, Choo’s shoes were featured in an eight-page spread in Vogue magazine, He became the darling of the celebrity world.
Princess Diana was a huge fan.
Tamara Yeardye Mellon, an accessories editor at Vogue, approached the shoemaker about partnering to create a line of ready-to-wear footwear.
Together, Choo and Mellon quickly grew the business, keeping the focus on creating high-end footwear, but no longer relying on the idea that every single pair had to be made by Choo himself. They contracted with Italian factories and opened their first boutique shop in London.
By the late 1990s, Choo opened in Los Angeles and New York and lineup of adoring Hollywood celebrities that included Julia Roberts and Renee Zellweger.
By the turn of the century, the Choo name was a global brand, with high-end retail clients that included Harrods and Saks Fifth Avenue .
In 2001, Choo sold his half of the company to Robert Bensoussan of Equinox Luxury Holdings for $30 million.
Today, Jimmy Choo has returned to his roots at a small shop he opened in London, which serves as the headquarters for the exclusive Jimmy Choo Couture line. It’s here that Choo crafts a small number of pairs of shoes each week and trains a select group of students on how to make high-end footwear.
Jimmy Choo is a devout Buddhist.
He is also a recipient of the O.B.E. (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire).
Jimmy Choo, has one daughter, and resides with his wife, Rebecca in London.
