John Lewis, newspage

Jimmy Choo's biggest store to date

Luxury shoe and accessories maker Jimmy Choo will open its largest store to date on Madison Avenue. The store, which will feature a Forties boudoir look and feel, will encompass 3,000 square feet, much bigger than was initially intended. The luxurious feel of the interior will be ideal to showcase the brand's growing offering. Eyewear and fragrance will be sold in the store as soon as they come on the market in January 2008 and 2009 respectively, along with the existing shoe and handbag collections.

Jimmy Choo was founded by former Vogue staffer Tamara Mellon, who teamed up with Malaysian shoemaker Jimmy Choo to create one of the most coveted shoe brands in the world. These days, however, handbags are becoming a large part of the business. They now acocunt for 40 percent of total sales.

“The new store is going to allow us to merchandise by product category,” Jimmy Choo's new chief executive Joshua Schulman told WWD. “We'll be able to show the full rage of the collections. Here, for the first time, people will be able to see our full breadth of product.” The brand's Bond Street recently underwent a similar renovation.

www.jimmychoo.com
25 June 2007

Jimmy Choo to introduce fragrance

Luxury footwear maker Jimmy Choo is to launch its first perfume for women in spring 2009. The company has signed a 10 year licensing agreement with French beauty manufacturer Selective Beauty to produce and distribute fragrances.

The diversification into fragrances is part of the company's growth strategy since being taken over by private equity group TowerBrook Capital Partners. “We launched our handbag line nearly four years ago and already Jimmy Choo has evolved from a shoe brand to a global luxury brand,” Muriel Zingraff, director of new product development and licening, told WWD. “It was natural to into fragrance as it allows us to express a different facet of the brand.”

Jimmy Choo fragrances will be sold quite selectively, at no more than 2,000 to 3,000 points of sale worldwide. These will include high-end specialty and department stores in the US and UK, and luxury perfumeries throughout Europe.

Jimmy Choo hopes to attract a new client base with this new product category, one that cannot readily afford the brand's shoes and bags, but would like to share in the luxury experience. According to Zingraff, fragrances will also complement the lifestyle of existing clients.

www.jimmychoo.com
11 June 2007

Jimmy Choo appoints new CEO

Luxury shoemaker Jimmy Choo has appointed Joshua Schulman as its new chief executive. Schulman joins the company from Kenneth Col e, and has also held senior positions at Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci. He replaces Robert Bensoussan, who held the role of chief executive since 2001 and is leaving to work on other luxury goods ventures with Towerbrook.

Schulman's arrival coincides with a new phase for the company, which was co-founded by Tamara Mellon. Earlier this year, private equity firm Towerbrook took a majority stake in Jimmy Choo valued at £185 million. Under its new ownership, the company should become a £1 billion business within the next five years. The brand plans to expand its product offering – a Jimmy Choo eau de toilette is in the pipeline - and will continue to expand abroad with stores opening across Asia.

Mellon will remain a significant shareholder and president of the company.

www.jimmychoo.com
16 April 2007

Jimmy Choo eyeing up fashion brands

Luxury shoe brand Jimmy Choo's chief executive, Robert Bensoussan, is to go on a £500m spending spree to create a mini-conglomerate in the luxury goods sector. Bensoussan is expected to this week announce a major initiative with Towerbrook, the private equity firm, to buy up luxury goods retailers to put in an umbrella company alongside Jimmy Choo, which Towerbrook is in the process of buying for £185m.

Bensoussan will target under-developed or badly performing fashion, cosmetics, accessories or furniture companies in the UK, mainland Europe and the US. The individual investments could be significantly bigger than the £185m that Towerbrook paid for Jimmy Choo, although small businesses will be looked at too. These will have to have a minimum annual turnover of £15m."It is a large spectrum. I would like to find a jewel to be developed, like Jimmy Choo was five years ago," said Bensoussan.

www.jimmychoo.com
26 February 2007

Jimmy Choo sold to Towerbrook

International private equity firm Towerbrook Capital Partners LP has acquired luxury shoe specialist Jimmy Choo for £185 million. The firm will be the new majority owner of the luxury chain, with Spanish private equity firm Gala Capital as a co-investor. President and founder of Jimmy Choo, Tamara Mellon, will continue to run the creative side of the business, as well as managing its image and promotional activities. She will remain a major shareholder. Meanwhile, creative director Sandra Choi will continue on at the company, contrary to earlier reports that she would not renew her contract.

"This new partnership will not only give us the ability to meet the growing demand for our range of products, but also achieve my original vision for Jimmy Choo to be one of the world's most treasured luxury brands," Mellon said in a statement.

Towerbrook has purchased the company from Lion Capital, formerly known as Hicks Muse, which acquired a majority stake in Jimmy Choo more than two years ago. The US-based firm said that since it had realized its "return expectations, we have decided to exit our investment, thereby enabling fresh capital to support the next stage of Choo's development."

Meanwhile, Jimmy Choo's chief executive Robert Bensoussan will work with Towerbrook to explore potential acquisitions in the luxury goods sector. In the statement, he said that the company would continue to develop overseas and would be expanding its current offering. Mellon told W Magazine in July that she wanted to "completely accessorize" her customers, adding that she wanted the brand to become available at a lower price point. Jimmy Choo currently has sales of £65 million, with 60 stores worldwide.

www.jimmychoo.com
5 February 2007

Jimmy Choo could see designer walk

Sandra Choi, the designer of Jimmy Choo, may leave the company when her contract expires in December of this year.

Choi, who is the niece of the company's founder Jimmy Choo, is understood to have become disillusioned with the management structure at the business, which was bought in 2004 by Hicks Muse, now Lion Capital, for £101m, according to Draper's Record.

Sources at the company have said that whilst Choi is very talented, she is not irreplaceable.

4 August 2006

Jimmy Choo goes East

British luxury shoe and accessories brand Jimmy Choo is well on its way to world domination and has now set its sights on the East. The company has just signed a distribution deal in India and has established a retail joint venture in Japan.

"As we consolidate our business in the US, the UK and Europe, we are moving east," chief executive Robert Bensoussan told Women's Wear Daily in an interview.

In India, the company signed a long-term distribution agreement with the Murjani Group, which also distributes the Tommy Hilfiger brand in India. The deal stipulates that Jimmy Choo will open seven stores over the next five years, the first of which will open in New Delhi at the end of this year.

"For us, India is a more interesting market than China right now," Bensoussan said, explaining that China is still a male-dominated society. "The Indian women are sophisticated and aware of fashion, and English is their language. They have money to spend, and they are independent. The Indian market may not be ready right now for luxury clothing, but it's certainly ready for accessories."

With regards to Japan, Jimmy Choo has established Jimmy Choo Tokyo KK, together with co-owner Bluebell Japan Ltd. The company will open its first independent boutique in Omotesando in Tolkyo. In the long term, the joint venture has been established to set up a network of shop-in-shops in department stores as well as freestanding boutiques.

Besides the plans for India and Japan, this year will see the opening of 14 more stores, bringing the total number of stores worldwide up to 50. Five of them will be in the US. However, the company is also planning on opening stores in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, South Korea, Indonesia and Hong Kong, as well as mostly franchises in Istanbul, Kiev, Ukraine and Mexico City.

Bensoussan estimates the sales will increase 30 percent this year, compared with last year. "Our ambition is to turn Jimmy Choo into a $200 million company very fast," he said.

With 65 percent of revenues generated by footwear, the remainder comes from bags and small accessories.

Speaking of future plans Bensoussan said that, by the end of the first quarter, Jimmy Choo will announce details of its first online boutique. The company is also working on loafers and flat shoes and boots for a more casual wardrobe.