"I may not have the stereotypical head for business, but I have feet
that were made for heels," says Tamara Mellon, president of Jimmy Choo
and one of few women in the luxury-shoe business. In 1996, after a stint
as accessories editor at British Vogue, Mellon formed a partnership
with Choo, a couture shoemaker she discovered in London's East End. By
2001, Mellon, ambitious to expand the brand, had cut a deal with Equinox
Luxury Holdings Ltd., which acquired Choo's share of the ready-to-wear
business for $15 million (Choo still controls the couture business).
Soon the brand's 1940s-boudoir-style stores began popping up around the
globe.
"As well as design and quality, I really work on the comfort of a heel,"
says Mellon, who is never seen in less than a 4-in. stiletto. Though
she is credited with generating a glamorous global image for the
little-known brand, Mellon says she still feels she faces chauvinism on
the business side. "It shouldn't be a man's world. They may wear the
trousers, but they don't wear the heels," she says.
After all, it's women — from Mellon to fans like Catherine Zeta-Jones
and Halle Berry — who put Jimmy Choo on the map. And with 25 new stores
set to open by 2005, the red carpet is not the only place where you will
be seeing this footprint.
