Jimmy Choo

Timothy Tye with Jimmy Choo (6 June 2014)


Jimmy Choo is a world-renowned fashion designer who was born in Penang. He was born in inner George Town on 15 November, 1948. During his birth, his surname Chow was misspelled Choo on his birth certificate. When he was small, he went to Shih Chung Primary School on Love Lane.

Jimmy Choo learned to make shoe from his shoemaker father. He apprenticed at shoemaking at the Hong Kong Store, which is still standing today. There was a time when he also also operated a shoemaking stall by the five-foot way on Leith Street. That spot, in front of Gala House Restaurant & Cafe, is today marked by the Jimmy Choo Steel-Rod Sculpture.

Seeking greener pastures, Jimmy Choo moved to London, where he studied at the Cordwainers Technical College, now known as the London College of Fashion. Thereafter he opened a shop in the London Borough of Hackney. The quality of his shoes soon garnered the attention of Vogue, and his big break came about when he came under the patronage of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

In 2004, Jimmy Choo was conferred the Darjah Setia Pangkuan Negeri medal, which carries the title of Datuk, by the Governor of Penang.

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