In My Shoes: A Memoir - Hardcover

Mellon, Tamara; Patrick, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1591846161 ISBN 13: 9781591846161

Publisher: Portfolio, 2013

Synopsis

When Tamara Mellon’s father lent her the seed money to start a high-end shoe company, he cautioned her: “Don’t let the accountants run your business.” Little did he know. Over the next fifteen years, the struggle between “financial” and “creative” would become one of the central themes as Mellon’s business savvy, creative eye, and flair for design built Jimmy Choo into a premier name in the competitive fashion industry.

Over time, Mellon grew Jimmy Choo into a billion dollar brand. She became the British prime minister’s trade envoy and was honored by the Queen with the Order of the British Empire—yet it’s her personal glamour that keeps her an object of global media fascination. Vogue photographed her wedding. Vanity Fair covered her divorce and the criminal trial that followed. Harper’s Bazaar toured her London town house and her New York mansion, right down to the closets. And the Wall Street Journal hinted at the real red meat: the three private equity deals, the relentless battle between “the suits” and “the creatives,” and Mellon’s triumph against a brutally hostile takeover attempt.

But despite her eventual fame and fortune, Mellon didn’t have an easy road to success. Her seemingly glamorous beginnings in the mansions of London and Beverly Hills were marked by a tumultuous and broken family life, battles with anxiety and depression, and a stint in rehab. Determined not to end up unemployed, penniless, and living in her parents’ basement under the control of her alcoholic mother, Mellon honed her natural business sense and invested in what she knew best—fashion.

In creating the shoes that became a fixture on Sex and the City and red carpets around the world, Mellon relied on her own impeccable sense of what the customer wanted—because she was that customer. What she didn’t know at the time was that success would come at a high price—after struggles with an obstinate business partner, a conniving first CEO, a turbulent marriage, and a mother who tried to steal her hard-earned wealth.

Now Mellon shares the whole larger-than-life story, with shocking details that have never been presented before. From her troubled childhood to her time as a young editor at Vogue to her partnership with cobbler Jimmy Choo to her very public relationships, Mellon offers an honest and gripping account of the episodes that have made her who she is today.

As Mellon readies herself for her next entrepreneurial venture, In My Shoes is a definitive book for fashion aficionados, aspiring entrepreneurs, and anyone who loves a juicy true story about sex, drugs, money, power, high heels, and overcoming adversity.

About this title

About the Author:

TAMARA MELLON, OBE, is the cofounder and the former CEO and chief creative officer of Jimmy Choo, which she led for fifteen years. Since

selling her share of the company, she has focused on creating a new eponymous lifestyle brand. She divides her time between London and New York.

WILLIAM PATRICK has cowritten numerous memoirs, including Sidney Poitier’s number-one bestseller The Measure of a Man.

 
Visit tamaramellon.com

Review:

“When it comes to Tamara Mellon, you should never assume anything.”

—The Financial Times 

“The Shoe Queen.”

—Vogue

“A kind of Henry James heroine for the bling generation.”

—Vanity Fair

“A woman shaped by hardship and scandal.”

—The Cut

“Tamara is an incredible businesswoman.”

—Tory Burch as quoted by the New York Times

“The Jimmy Choo brand has gone on to infiltrate popular culture on a mass scale, becoming synonymous with a kind of feminine luxury lifestyle that Mellon herself—strong, smart, independent, and glamorously larger than life—has come to personify.”

—Interview Magazine

About this edition

• Publisher: Portfolio
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1591846161
• ISBN 13: 9781591846161
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288