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Shoe brand Jimmy Choo is shedding the glamorous, frivolous, stilettoed, Sex and the City image that put the brand on the map in the 1990s. Sandra Choi—Choo's niece and, as of 10 weeks ago, the brand's new creative director—has a different vision in mind for the brand, and it involves sneakers, among other things. "It's time to give this place a shake. Jimmy Choo is that sexy, strappy, stiletto thing—but it can be something else, too," she told the Telegraph.
Choi has been at the brand since she was a teenager, working closely with both her uncle—she designed the ready-to-wear line while Choo remained a master crafter of custom shoes—and then Tamara Mellon, who is generally responsible for the slick, sexed-up, Type A image the brand has been milking for the past decade or so. (Choo and Mellon did not see eye to eye on that vision, and the shoe-maker famously sold his stake in the company back in 2001. Choi tells the Telegraph that her uncle hasn't spoken to her since, when she decided to stay on with the company.) The brand has been in flux since Mellon abruptly resigned in November of 2011.
Choi vision goes beyond the glamazon girl from the brand's recent ad campaigns. "[The new Choo woman] doesn't need to get her hair done, and she has a sense of attitude which is, 'You know what? This is me,'" says Choi. Look for new store designs, new advertising, and, basically, a whole new attitude, coming soon.
· Sandra Choi: The Soul of Choo [Telegraph]
· Tamara Mellon Might Be Starting Her Own Lifestyle Brand [Racked]
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