It's not every day you get to sit down with a proper fashion world icon and pick his brains for free! Dear listeners, you're in for a treat this week as Clare meets the one and only Jimmy Choo. This magic name in shoe design is now professor - he runs his own fashion school, the Jimmy Choo Academy in London's Mayfair. A warm-hearted generous chat full over pearls of wisdom, like...
"First, you must learn patience."
"It all experience! Whatever happens, don't blame yourself - learn from it."
"Somebody will always be better than you."
"If you act like a know it all, no one will want to talk to you. If you are humble, people will want to pass on their skills and knowledge."
"Trust your instincts to seize opportunities."
Want more? Headphones at the ready. And don't forget to tell us what you think.
Ultimately, Jimmy's message is, there's no point merely chasing fame, publicity and money. You have to stay true to your values. For him, that means craftsmanship, skill, and passing on your knowledge.
Jimmy at work, back in the day.
JIMMY’S STORY
Jimmy Choo was born in Malaysia where he learned his craft from his shoemaker father. He made his first pair of slippers at just 11 years old. In his early 30s, Jimmy arrived in London to study at what was then Cordwainers Technical College in Hackney (it's now part of London College of Fashion). Within a few years, his shoes were featured in an eight-page spread in Vogue and Princess Di was his best customer.
In 1996, British Vogue's accessories editor Tamara Mellon went into business with him, and the brand that bears his name was born. According to the authors of the 2009 book, The Towering World of Jimmy Choo, Mellon raised £150,000 investment to make it happen.
Jimmy’s name has since become a byword for shoes themselves, or a certain type of shoe. Elegant heels, sandals, pumps, sometimes satin, sometimes crystal strewn of otherwise embellished. Like people say Manolos, they say Choos. In 2011 when the company launched its ICONS line of 15 best selling styles, it included suede and feather platform that Carrie Bradshaw lost running to catch the Staten Island Ferry ("I lost my Choo!"). By then, however, Jimmy himself had left the building. He sold his stake in the company for 10 million quid in 2001. His niece however Sandra Choi is still creative director, of what is now a global brand that's part of the group that owns Michael Kors and Coach.
These days, Jimmy makes shoes under his Jimmy Choo Couture line (which he licenses from the brand he co-founded). And here's the twist... at 75 years young, he's a professor, and runs his own fashion school, the Jimmy Choo Academy in London's Mayfair.
Diana, Princess of Wales wore Jimmy Choo slingbacks to attend a performance of Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall in 1997. She teamed them with a Hepburnish pale blue beaded mini dress by Jacques Azagury .
LINKS
Listen to the Wardrobe Crisis episodes Clare mentions in her into: Ep 83 Katharine Hamnett, Rebel Fashion Force. Ep 13, Stephen Jones, from Club Kid to Dior
Watch the SATC clip of Carry missing the Staten Island ferry here.
Here’s the Chicago Tribune op ed on icons, BTW.
““I’ve always believed creativity is the true skill.”
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The JIMMY CHOO ACADEMY (JCA) opened in London in 2021, in partnership with the University of West London. Course leaders and teaching staff come from industry and include Mark Eley, of cult London brand Eley Kishimoto/
“Part fashion school, part professional incubator, the facility is billed as more than an educational academy; it’s a canvas for collaboration—a co-working space for startups as well as a gallery and exhibition space for networking and events. The new Masters, Fashion Entrepreneurship in Design and Brand Innovation, was designed with enterprise at its core: Students establish themselves as freelancers and are encouraged to develop a commercial enterprise from the outset.” Via Forbes.
Their London fashion week shows are eagerly awaited. “Over 800 guests gathered at St. Mary’s Church to see the JCA’s latest M.A. cohort on September 16. From drag queens to football hooligans, the diverse runway show had it all—even a closing concert from experimental pop duo Mermaid Chunky.
Discover JCA here.