Women love them. Just can't get enough of them. And who understands that better than Tamara Mellon, founder and president of Fashion line Jimmy Choo.
Ten years ago, as accessories editor at Vogue UK, Mellon recognised a gap in the market for luxury shoes. She teamed up with couture shoemaker Jimmy Choo to launch a company specialising in luxury shoes for all occasions.
A decade of success
Today Jimmy Choo is a well known international brand regularly worn on the red carpet by glamorous models, film stars and fashionistas.
In an exclusive e-chat with Tabloid!, Mellon looks back on a decade of success and speaks about her ambitious plans for the future.
She diplomatically ducked questions about her celebrity clients and refused to divulge any creative secrets, but she did give us some interesting insights into shoes and why women cannot resist them.
Perhaps you are the best person to answer this question — why can't women resist buying shoes?
Woman love to buy shoes because of so many reasons! Firstly, beautiful and well made shoes make women feel empowered, strong, confident and good about themselves.
Shoes are also the best way of dressing up or finishing off an outfit. I really believe that one's shoes make or break an outfit. Also, shoes are something that one can really invest in as your shoe size never changes like your clothes might.
As a shoe designer does a woman have a different perspective from men? Can there ever be a sexy, high-heeled shoe that is also comfortable to wear?
Our aim with Jimmy Choo is to make shoes that are high (our best sellers are four inches or above) but comfortable. I live in my high heels all day long. I think as a woman I have a real understanding of what others need and we try to accomplish the comfort factor with certain trade secrets that I obviously cannot give away.
What do you read from the current popularity of flip-flops, sneakers and flat shoes? Will stilettos ever go out of style?
I think there is a need for all heel heights as women lead such busy and various lives. We have great flat shoes in our collections every season. From practical weekend flats with rubber soles for running around in when doing errands to beautiful sparkly and bejewelled flats for the evening. I don't think stilettos will ever go out of fashion as they are so feminine and there will always be a need for them. We try to cater for all types of women and offer our key styles in different heel heights in order to give as much choice as possible.
Do you think stars pay as much attention to their shoes and bags as they should? What is your advice on accessorising for the red carpet?
For sure, they do. I think accessories are just as important as the outfit for the red carpet. If you wear the right shoes and bag then your outfit will be complete. For the Oscars we take a suite in a hotel in Los Angeles, and help accessorise all the major stars for their red carpet outfits.
In your opinion which celebrity has the best fashion accessory sense? And the worst?
I love the style of so many different celebrities.
What do you think about Dubai and the Middle East market in general? With abayas focusing more attention on a woman's shoes and bag, what is your fashion advice to Arab women concerning accessories?
I love the way Middle Eastern women have such a passion for accessories. When picking accessories have fun with them. It is good to mix fashionable items with more classic things so that they last for more than one season.
What are the challenges and advantages of being a 10-year-old brand in a market where the best known brands have been around for half a century? What is your vision for the future?
When I set up Jimmy Choo in 1996 there was a real gap in the market for beautiful and luxurious shoes with a range of choice from day to evening. There have been many challenges throughout these years but we have always overcome them and it has been exciting.
These days there is so much competition and we have to keep on making sure that we are ahead of the game and producing the “it'' items of the seasons. We have accomplished so much and it really has been a dream come true for me.
My vision is to keep on growing the company globally and carrying on with our great collections. It is a very exciting time for us and we have now reached a point in the business whereby we can think about so many new ventures and new challenges.
Celebs who wear choo
Charlize Theron, Sharon Stone, Halle Berry, Courtney Cox Arquette, Kate Hudson, Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth Hurley, Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Debra Messing are some of the celebrities seen with Jimmy Choos adorning their feet at the Oscars, Cannes, the Emmy's, the Golden Globes and other prestigious events.
The brand also made its presence felt on shows and films such as Sex and the City and Legally Blonde 2.
Cool Mellon
Tamara Mellon on shoe and bag trends for this season: The trends for Autumn/Winter 2006-07 are colours such as black, grey and red. Finishes such as patent and details such as studs are going to be huge. Platforms are going to be big and we have a series of shoes with 115mm heels and platforms in the key colours. For bags — large day bags are a continuing trend from Spring/Summer 06 with hardware.
Our key bags are the Mahala and Ramona. From the Autumn/Winter 06 collection, my favourite bag is the Mahala. It is very cool and comes in the key colours of the season. In terms of shoes, as it is our tenth anniversary this year, I am so excited about our Vintage collection. This collection is made up of 10 key styles from the last 10 years and one of my favourite shoes of all time that features in this collection is the lilac feather shoe.
Company profile
The company was launched in 1996. As accessories editor at Vogue UK, Tamara Mellon sensed a real demand for stylish but wearable shoes and approached Jimmy Choo, a couture shoemaker based in the East End of London, recognised for his excellent craftsmanship. With Mellon's father, Thomas Yeardye (the founder of Vidal Sassoon) as chairman, they started the ready to wear company and sourced factories in Italy to produce the shoes on a larger scale. The first standalone Jimmy Choo boutique opened in Knightsbridge, London in 1996 and the brand is now available in all the fashion capitals of the world including Dubai.
In November 2001, Equinox Luxury Holdings Ltd acquired Choo's share of the business, with Equinox's chairman and chief executive Robert Bensoussan becoming CEO of Jimmy Choo with Mellon as president. Both Mellon and the company's creative director, Sandra Choi collaborate to design the collections. The first Jimmy Choo bag collection was launched in August 2003.
