Jimmy Choo, Where are You?
I was watching Oprah and saw today's episode "Real People Behind Big Names". The man behind Elmo and the woman who inspired Barbie were revelead for the first time, along with famous designers like Marc Jacobs and Jimmy Choo. Marc Jacobs is the the very famous designer of pricey clothes and accessories. He was personally interviewed by Oprah about his struggles in life before his fame. Next was supposedly the person behind Jimmy Choo shoes. I've heard so much about this ridiculously priced shoe wear. I am still in awe and disbelief on how anyone would spend 500 bucks on shoes. For me it's just shoes and I really don't see a big difference from the ones sold at a lesser price. Yes it's pretty and sexy but to stick 500 dollars on its price tag is insane.
Ok back to my story. As the person behind the Jimmy Choo shoes was about to be revealed, I instinctively expected Jimmy Choo himself to seat on Oprah's leather couch. It would also be a very big boost on my Asian spirit, to know that a fellow Asian has survived, conquered and has been successful in a ruthless and capitalist society.
But no, it was a white English woman named Tamara Mellon who is the president and founder of Jimmy Choo. She supposedly met the real Jimmy Choo, a cobbler or a shoemaker in Malaysia and was inspired by his creativity and ideas of personalizing shoes to please it's customers.
"At first, Tamara would commission Jimmy to create shoes for special projects. Then she came up with a bigger plan to create a line of shoes made with Jimmy Choo's artistry that would be available to everyone. Jimmy Choo signed off on the idea, freeing Tamara to take his name and run with it. Tamara's father backed his daughter financially, and in 1996, the first London based Jimmy Choo store opened. After 10 years, Jimmy Choo is now worth an estimated $325 million, with 40 locations worldwide, making Tamara Mellon one of the most successful businesswomen in Britain."--Oprah.com
Signed off on the idea? I wonder what Jimmy Choo thinks about this right now. I mean whatever he's worth, he could make soooo much more and more importantly, the recognition he deserves not just some Malaysian cobbler.
Well may be he wasn't interested in business but at least don't give that woman or anyone else permission to use your name and idea. It was his idea all along that inspired the whole line of one-of-a-kind shoes. I couldn't help but smirk upon the words president and founder. It just kills me knowing that another minority was used and bypassed. He should have involved himself into this whole shoe empire that's now worth $325 million instead of signing off the idea. She probably used some big terminologies on this poor cobbler and scared him off the business. Sorry, really getting carried away here. No one but Jimmy Choo knows what really happened, or maybe he is happy with it, I don't know. All I can say is... SAYANG NAMAN.
posted by debbie @ 4:12 PM
23 comments
23 Comments:
I saw that episode when it originally aired, and I had the exact same reaction you do. I'm very assertive towards my/our being a minority, hence my appalled response to that. I mean, it would have been OK to sign off the idea, but at least, give the original Jimmy Choo a piece of their wealth annually or something. After all, he's not only the name behind the empire.
kai:i know! well at least she used his name parin not hers. i'll give her that. kasi naman itong si jimmy choo eh...dapat kasama din siya sa multi million empire diba. he really shouldn't have given her all the rights.
well, there's got to be some luck with this name that she didn't use hers. i mean, how did she come up with great designs if jimmy choo signed off? did he give up his ideas, too? and how could she be proud of her success when someone else's name she used has not benefited any wealth at all.
grabe, sayang talaga :(
hay, kalungkot naman. sayang ang expertise & skills ng totoong jimmy choo. eh parang dito rin sa atin di ba? the filipino inventor of the flourescent bulb was snobbed by our government so he turned to the US government to market his invention. eh di ang nakikinabang ngayon ang mga katulad ng philips and general electric. tsk, tsk.
you know, i am careful with name using, too! a few months ago, i bombarded a certain website after failing to publish some articles which i submitted to them last year. i said i'm not after the talent fee anymore, i just don't want to see it under someone else's name. this tamara lady must have paid jimmy choo a huge amount back then, and she must have demanded a copy of his designs, too. oh well, there's nothing we could do now.
regarding the pricey tags, i won't spend that amount on stilettos also. here in manila, known personalities often speak of their jimmy choo's or their manolo blahnik's. as in heller, my most expensive shoes only cost me around $30 (roughly P1,500), and it's been with me for three years now. it's a black leather boots from figlia, my favorite local brand.
aww.. di ko napanood ang episode na yan. Peborit ko talaga ang oprah show na yan. anyway, thanks for sharing Deb.
have a great week jan sis.
God Bless..
evi:mabuti na naka consensya rin kahit papaano at hindi yung name niya ang ginamit! i really dont know the tiny details of the whole thing but all i know is that jimmy choo deserves something more than what he's getting.
jairam, pao:yup...so sad.
mildred:it's crazy to spend that kind of money on things that you know wouldn't last long, fashionwise and shelf life. walang magawa sa pera....
ethel:sayang hindi mo napanood...wait for the re-runs! makikita mo ulit yon. tc!
Napadaan lang sis. Take care!
halooww! debbie,. kababalik ko lang sa site ko,. patigil tigil dahil nga lumipatkami dito sa jacksonville
eto medyo active na ulit paano,. walang magawa, di pa ako nagtarabaho...
thanks for remembering...
mga bago nga lahat ng mga kalinks ko , paano ,. nawala ang site ko,. dahil sa server :(
link kita ulit ha! TAKE CARE
teka seattle ka?
nagbago kasi kami ng plano eh ;hayy!!
ok, im sot stupid.. i saw your profile...you from cali...
hehe sori!
rose:good to have you blogging again! i miss you and your posts!
ahhh, it's one of those "Jimmy Choo, what were you thinking?" spiels. she really should at least offer Jimmy Choo some of the royalties if he really was behind those designs.
Hi Debbie!
Just hoppin'! :)
Tc & God bless :)
Hi! I'm sorry I just came across this website when I was researching 'Jimmy Choo' for my school work. Don't worry guys because Jimmy Choo still owns his Couture shop in London where he works seperately from the 'ready to wear' Jimmy Choo shops which Tamara owns. (If that makes any sense!?) He still earns a lot of money from his Couture shop as customers visit by appointment only and pay the couture team to make a shoe uniquely for them. Insanely rich and famous people go there, for instance; Kylie Minogue, Natalie Imbruglia, Naomi Campbell, Sarah Jessica Parker, the late Princess Diana and Katie Holmes - just to name a few!! I know this because I worked there during the summer alongside Jimmy for my work experience which was pretty cool, and I couldn't help but comment when I read your blog! I hope that this comment helps! Take care xx
anonymous - well that's good to know. he truly deserves all the credit aside form the gazillions of money :) but i wonder why he wasn't the one featured in OPrah? they didn't even mention anything about this couture shop that he owns...it made it look like Tamara owns and runs Jimmy Choos shoes. oh well...what can we or us poor people do...but talk about it while they're living THE life :) at least you've got a taste of the THE so-called life...good for you and jimmy choo! thanks for dropping by :)
Hey
Came across your blog. Um I think you're turning Mr Jimmy Choo into this poor guy even though he wanted to leave, got tons of money from Tamara to sell his name and still gets approx 4$/by shoe sold. Meanwhile Sandra Choi, his niece designs along with Tamara all the shoes.
anonymous - i know..i don't really know what i'm talking about coz i don't have a clue on what's really going on. i just wish he could've been in the oprah show....that all.
i dont see what's particularly surprising about this.
Jimmy Choo never had anything to do with the brand. he is a cobbler. an exceptional one at that. he found fame when he created the shoes for princess di.
he didn't even start the 'jimmy choo' brand. he's no businessman or entrepreneur. the chances are if you've ever seen a jimmy choo shoe, at the store or your friends- he had nothing to do with it.
but seriously guys, this has absolutely nothing to do with race.
if i came up to you and said, i'd pay you a sum of money to use your name for my company and you agreed, what's wrong with that?
besides, do you honestly think anyone would really know about 'jimmy choo' if tamara didn't create the brand and off-the-shelf shoes?
he should be grateful someone wanted to use his name, paid him for it, and then made him famous.
i totally agree with the original story here. i'm not even asian and i can see through all of this. i too wished we could have met the real jimmy choo. shame on oprah for parading some clueless spoon fed white woman around like she's the person who created the fit. the reason the shoes are so popular is OBVIOUSLY because they must fit like a dream. otherwise a shoe won't make it across the street, litteraly.
to the people who don't think race is involved, OPEN YOUR EYES, GO GET SOME GLASSES, geez. this is a honkie dominated world all living off the backs of brown people worldwide bro, WORLDWIDE!!! sux! anywhoo, as a designer myself, knowing how hard it is to make it in fashion unless yer little daddy hands you 300 grand, much respect for mr. choo.
i also watched the oprah show and i was astonished to know the jimmy choo shoes is not owned by an asian.its just a pity!
i got to see your blog when i was searching for materials about cobblers.
Jimmy Choo still earns from his Jimmy Choo Retail line of shoes tho it's under Tamara. Getting money by not doing anything and only for your name is not too bad. Especially when he still owns and runs Jimmy Choo Couture in London where each shoe is designed especially for the person and therefore it will be a custom fit. It's a dream for most women. Can't afford GBP700 tho! More so when I'm earing in Ringgit Malaysia. Really weak against the Pound.
Jimmy Choo makes Malaysia and Asia proud!
I saw most of the episode but didn't catch how the name Jimmy Choo was chosen. When an asian man/woman was NOT revealed as the owner/designer, I thought maybe the name came from the woman's kid who wanted their shoe and was saying "jimmy choo" instead of 'gimme shoe.' I'm disappointed to learn the real story.
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