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

~ (Author), Sagra Maceira de Rosen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Backstabbing and bitchery dominate this tale of woe from fashion journalist Crowe and Rosen, head of the Luxury & Retail division of Reig Capital Group. Dreary writing hobbles what could have been an inspiring portrait of Jimmy Choo's rise from his humble origins (Choo started making shoes at age nine in Malaysia) to the company's astonishing success and sale for $333 million in 2007. The story primarily follows Tamara Mellon, a socialite who convinced Choo to mass-produce his shoes, finally becoming president of the company. Despite an intriguing picture of the luxury trade in '90s London, where the supply of sexy shoes was almost monopolistically controlled by Manolo Blahnik, the details of the corporate in-fighting becomes repetitive and dull; by the time Jimmy becomes dissatisfied with the partnership and Tamara Mellon goes through an ugly divorce, readers are unlikely to care. It turns out that high fashion loses a great deal of its glamour when you examine the business nitty-gritty rather than the glitz. (Apr.)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* As the world economy continues to reel, one burning question prompted by journalist Crowe and financial analyst de Rosen’s riveting history of the ups and downs—and ups again—of the Jimmy Choo brand: Will there continue to be a market for high-end luxury goods? The answer is a toss-up among today’s pundits. Then again, so is the response to the question posed first by the authors: Does Jimmy Choo represent a new business model for luxury brands—or was it simply in the right place at the right time? There is something Sex and the City–like about Jimmy Choo’s rise to fashionista prominence: it’s the tale of many machinations, many different owners (three in less than one decade), and clashes of outsized personalities, incuding Jimmy Choo (yes, he exists!), the Malaysian shoemaking talent; Tamara Mellon, the celebrity president (and her parents); Matthew Mellon, her former husband and an American banking scion–cum–party guy; and Robert Bensoussan, a farsighted CEO and entrepreneur—among dozens of other celebrities and characters. A fascinating, well-written chronology that draws a chillingly accurate behind-the-scenes portrait of a contemporary fashion brand. --Barbara Jacobs

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; 1 edition (April 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596913916
• ISBN-13: 978-1596913912
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #173,100 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Your Jimmy Choos aren't, April 22, 2009

By	mojosmom (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

(What's this?)

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.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Business, Personality and Luxury, May 20, 2009

By	Jack D. Maser (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Surprising Read For Me, May 11, 2009

By	R. Jones-Shine "Irish13" (California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.