Customer Reviews

The Towering World of Jimmy Choo: A Glamorous Story of Power, Profits, and the Pursuit of the Perfect Shoe

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Jimmy Choo, the shoemaker, hasn't had anything to do with Jimmy Choo, the shoes, for quite a while now. That's what this book is about - the way a small, artisanal shoemaking company catering to a select group of wealthy women was turned into an international luxury ready-to-wear brand featured on television and the red carpet.

One of Mr. Choo's customers was a young woman named Tamara Yeardye, a socialite with business in her blood. She saw the potential of the business, and used her social and business connections to raise the funds to capitalize on it. Convincing Mr. Choo, though, was even harder, but she did. The saga of Jimmy Choo (the company) is a microcosm of the world of start-ups, IPOs, leveraged buyouts, private equity firms, all the pieces that made up the financial picture of the late '90s and early 2000s. And it's also the story of some very powerful personalities, and how their personal lives and scandals affected the company.

Honestly, I wasn't sure I was going to like this book. The blurbs, and certainly the first chapter, read like a gossip magazine. But slowly and inexorably I was drawn in by the vivid way the authors describe the financial machinations, the growth of the company through multiple sales, the dealmaking. It's easy to be misled by the initial portrait of Tamara Yeardye Mellon posing in "cleavage and stiletto shoes" by her nude photograph. Despite her social butterfly image, and the very real scandals she was involved in, she is one smart, driven and ambitious cookie.

The authors are, respectively, a journalist specializing in fashion and luxury goods, and an equity analyst and founding partner of a private equity firm. It's not difficult to tell who wrote what, and the way in which the book bounces back and forth between Yeardye's personal pecadilloes and high finance is a bit distracting. Kudos, however, to Ms. Maceira de Rosen for explicating complicated financial dealings in a way that makes them clear and understandable to the lay person.

The story of Jimmy Choo is, to me, a sad one. True, he is now a wealthy man as the world measures wealth. But he and his niece (who had worked with him in his shop but now works with Yeardye Mellon) do not speak. And the man who, with his art and careful craft, made the beautiful shoes that first attracted Yeardye's attention now cannot use his own name without someone else's consent.

A Choo, his shoes, many capitalists, an investigative reporter and an equity analyst in luxury goods - Put them together and you get Crowe and de Rosen's book The Towering World of Jimmy Choo. In fact, this tale is not just about a cobbler who had a flare for design and quality, but about many aspects of the luxury clothing/accessory business world. What holds the interest of a non-high finance or business person like myself is the fascinating mix of personalities driven to be the best at what they do and the capitalist system in which they achieved or failed.

In several chapters, shoes seem not to matter at all. Rather, Crowe and de Rosen introduced me to the business of luxury and the entrepreneurs and managers at its highest end. Indeed, one problem that I had was keeping track of all the names that were dropped. Not being in fashion or luxury, I suspect that I recognized about half the names. For this high recognition rate, one must give credit to the advertising departments at Givenchy, Versace, and a few others! Hopefully, readers more in tune with this industry will recognize more.

I think business majors would benefit by reading this book. It provides insight into acquisitions, mergers and deals as well as the business acuity possessed by Tamara Mellon and others seeking to make their fortune in luxury and glamour. True, Tamara had Daddy's money to back her, but it was her drive and vision that brought a relatively obscure maker of shoes for wealthy women to the international attention of women in the upper middle class. At one point Robert Bensoussan, a primary Jimmy Choo manager, came to Phoenix Equity Partners to jointly set up an investment vehicle to hold luxury acquisitions, one of which was Jimmy Choo Shoes. The Phoenix managers never heard of this brand and were skeptical, so Bensoussan suggested that the managers go home and ask their wives what they thought of Jimmy Choo shoes. The next morning these same managers returned with great enthusiasm for the venture. As for Jimmy, he just wanted to design and make shoes for select clients.

This is a must read for people in the fashion field, especially luxury fashion, and for business majors. It is a good read for people, like me, just interested in learning about a heretofore unknown area.

I grew up in the luxury goods business-my father owned a textile company, and his wife was in marketing at Hermes, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and La Prairie. Till now, I have not read a book on the industry that wasn't either a hagiography or written for a neo-literate. Luxury goods are a multi-billion dollar business, and there is a reason that a brand becomes established. The Towering World addresses how Jimmy Choo became a household aspirational product, both through clever marketing, its unique history and the keen business sense of its principals.

Being a person as far removed from a fashionista as you can possibly get, I was just a bit skeptical that I would enjoy this book when it was offered to me as a commuter-read book. I was pleasantly surprised. It gave me a "red carpet" ride of a read. I was drawn in by the initial relationships - between Tamara and her father (clearly an important adviser in the early stages) and mother, as well as Tamara and her family and Jimmy Choo. It was fascinating to learn the machinations behind the bejewled facade of high-end fasion. The business world was definitely described in great detail, but in a very readable format. I was a bit saddened to learn that Tamara and her mother no longer have a close relationshp(due to that "one thin dime" logic that tears so many productive relationships apart). Kudos to the authors! You kept this novice fashion world traveler throughly interested, informed and entertained.

In the Towering World of Jimmy Choo, Lauren Goldstein Crowe and Sagra Maceira de Rosen do what many in the business world thought impossible: they expose the drama behind the extremely convoluted numbers of the Jimmy Choo annual reports, bringing to light the driving elements of the luxury goods industry.

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in luxury goods, fashion design, venture capital, or brand management. However, given that it is a fast-paced, highly entertaining read -- bringing to life everything from Cool Britania in the Swinging 60s to the extreme work ethic employed by true fashionistas to the heady celebrity excesses from the 1980s to today -- it truly has mass appeal.

This book is about luxury brand entrepreneurship using Jimmy Choo as the case study. The most interesting aspect of the book is that it follows the development of the brand from its start in the 1980's through its phenomenal growth as of 2008. I also enjoyed the book's glimpses into the other luxury brands that people have become so enthralled with: Burberry, Kenzo, Givenchy, etc. The personal stories of the key players in the Jimmy Choo story can be found on line. There were no new revelations. The book is obviously written as a journalistic account relying on many different news sources, however, it is fast moving and kept my interest in the story. If you are interested in how brands develop and grow and how brands sometimes stall and fail, read this book.

The Towering World of Jimmy Choo is about a luxury brand. Lauren Goldstein Crowe (fashion writer) and Sagra Maceira de Rosen (equity analyst) attempt to convey the concept of luxury brands by combining the worlds of high finance and high-society.

The book is not about Jimmy Choo or his shoes. The book is about the company, tracing its growth from start-up to acquisition. Thus, the book will appeal more to business professionals than fashionistas. However, many business professionals may be put off by the good dose of gossip about Tamara Yeardye.

Choo is a Chinese immigrant who arrived in the United Kingdom by way of Malaysia. He was a shoemaker, like his father. Eventually his shoes were used in print fashion layouts. While making custom shoes by hand, Choo could not keep up with his growing socialite clientele. He also yearned for more public success.

In 1996, Tamara Yeardye, and her father Tom Yeardye, convinced Choo to go into business with them to mass-produce luxury shoes, forming Jimmy Choo, Ltd. The book covers the company's growth into a luxury brand, with global sales and celebrity clients.

Tamara and Choo had different visions of success. Soon, Choo was only involved in the couture line, while Tamara and Sandra Choi (Choo's niece) designed the mass-produced line. Eventually Choo was no longer a part of the company that bore his name - and no longer part of the book.

Tamara Yeardye became a celebrity in her own right - a celebrity marketer. She became the company's public face, and was often (mistakenly) credited with the company's success. She and CEO Robert Bensoussan did not work well together. Until his death, Tom Yeardye was the mediator that kept the machine going despite the riff. Afterwards the animosity between Bensoussan and Tamara put the welfare of the company at risk.

While Crowe and de Rosen use the story and appeal of the Jimmy Choo luxury brand to explore and expose the world of high finance, they also tell (or do not tell) a sad story of a craftsman who leveraged his name for success and became a victim of change.

"The Towering World of Jimmy Choo" peels off the famous designer label and offers insight into the machinations of the financial and creative battles behind the name.

Jimmy Choo was born in Malaysia where at age nine he was an apprentice to his parents, both shoemakers. Arriving in London, he trained at the centuries old Cordwainers School, where shoe craft was taught mainly to foreigners, and based upon traditional concepts. London itself was in the midst of a fashion revolution that extended to shoes, and Jimmy built a reputation initially producing one-of-a-kind custom-designed creations for high-end fashion shoots and women with unlimited budgets. Along the way he met Tamara Yeardye (later Mellon) who persuaded her wealthy father to fund a venture for mass-producing Jimmy Choo shoes.

The book is riddled with the names of mostly major British investment organizations. A score-card is needed to keep track of the various CEOs and COOs that populate Jimmy Choo and numerous other high-end luxury brands. They leap from one business to another and along the way impose changes in corporate culture, branding etc. The sad thing is that Jimmy Choo himself got lost along the way, limited to a narrow use of his own name brand and at the end of 2008, considering retirement altogether. Jimmy, a creative and hard-working genius, was eaten by sharks.

At times one wonders whether this book was commissioned by Tamara Mellon, a wild party girl and former addict, and now the President of the company, worth millions. If this is supposed to be a paean to her, it leaves us cold. The writing style is gossipy and breathless. Worth reading if you are interested in the do's and don'ts of business entrepreneurship.

The Towering World of Jimmy Choo is the behind the scenes story of the world famous shoe brand. Jimmy Choo was a young shoemaker who crafted made-to-order shoes for a few select wealthy clients in London when he caught the eye of Tamara Yeardye. Tamara began using Jimmy's shoes in Vogue layouts and later convinced her wealthy father to join with Choo to invest in a mass produced luxury shoe line.

Tension between Tamara and Jimmy quickly came to a head when it became clear that they both had different visions for the company. Soon Choo was only involved in the couture line of custom shoes while the mass produced designs were all created by Tamara and Choo's niece Sandra Choi.

Now twelve years later Choo is no longer a part of the company bearing his name and the shoe that made its start in a small cramped space is one of the most successful luxury brands in the world, worth over $350 million.

I have to admit that when I first noticed this book I thought it was chic-lit fiction not the real story behind the legendary brand but I am so glad I picked it up. It was a fascinating look behind the scenes.

I'm not at all knowledgeable about the world of fashion but enjoyed reading this story because of the peek into that lifestyle. Not only does the book cover the company, it covers the financial decision making and the changes the company has gone through in just a few short years. It's amazing to me that all this could be built from the Jimmy Choo name while having almost nothing to do with the real Jimmy Choo. I recommend this book for not only fashion lovers but to anyone who enjoys a good non-fiction read.

Lauren Goldstein Crowe and Sagra Maceira de Rosen show the progress of Jimmy Choo leaving his Penang, Malaysia roots where his father was a shoemaker to end up designing shoes from his own luxury collection. After attending Cordwainers, he sold shoes at a stall after making them from a Kingsland Road, Hackney, Metropolitan Hospital ("Metropolitan") space-where artisans and businesses found a cheap, though perhaps unsavory location to create their wares. The real focus of the story, however, is on the unflappable Tamara (nee Yeardye) Mellon who convinced both Jimmy Choo and her father and his friends to invest in a Jimmy Choo-branded luxury shoe line.

Tamara had seen Jimmy's potential for earning with a line of shoes after his sucess selling one-off pairs both in her role as an assistant to London Vogue Fashion Director, Sarajane Hoare and through her socialite friends she was partying with in London at the time. Her father used his Vidal Sasson connections from his years past to help get Tamara, J.C and Co., set up around the world, but particularly in America. As told, the success of the "perfect shoe" company was built from a recipe of Tamara's contacts, determination, her father's tough-as-nails business sense-which he clearly taught to Tamara, along with the mix of some luck and name recognition with celebrity (not the least of which was Princess Diana early-on with Jimmy Choo and then much later thanks to Sex and the City!)

Goldstein Crowe and Maceira de Rosen's book reads like a very long mix between a fashion and business magazine article to tell how Tamara (together with Choo's niece-Sandra Choi, Robert Bensoussan and others) helped to build the Jimmy Choo empire from the ground up. They extoll how Tamara triumphed through personal loss when she got divorced, through sale and resale of the company up until now. Today she serves in the company's current incantation as the company's President, shareholder and board member.

A mini-series on the Chanel Haute Couture line in Spring of 2005 called Signe Chanel portrayed how the Chanel staff posted a sign that showed whenever Karl Lagerfeld was in the office... it would say K.L n'est pas la or would flip for K.L est la! I would say the most tragic thing about reading this book for me is that J.C n'est pas la. I read the book hoping to find out how a kid brought up the hard way ended up having this great shoe empire, with the help of some visionary businesspeople. However, what I ended up reading about is what appears to be a crush by the authors for Tamara Mellon. At the end of the day, for me, it was Jimmy Choo who was missing from this tale. According to the authors, though he returned to run his own couture shoe business...he was considering shutting down because he was having trouble purchasing the quality shoe-components he needed to stay open.