Tamara Mellon

She built Jimmy Choo after rehab... then sold it for half a billion.

In the early ’90s, Tamara Mellon was fired from British Vogue for using too many drugs.

She went to rehab, got clean, and came out with an idea.

At the time, high-end accessories were just starting to boom.

There was Manolo Blahnik but not much else.

She approached a London cobbler named Jimmy Choo and pitched him on turning his bespoke shoes into a ready-to-wear luxury brand.

To fund it, she went to her father.

He didn’t say yes right away.

But after reviewing her business plan, he gave her a £150,000 loan.

She set up an office in Italy.

Managed production, quality control, and logistics.

By 2001, Jimmy Choo was in Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Saks, and Bergdorf Goodman.

At some Italian factories, her orders made up more than 50% of the total production.

She opened the first Jimmy Choo store in Knightsbridge in 1996.

Then came boutiques in New York, Las Vegas, and Beverly Hills.

As the brand grew, investors came in.

Equinox. Hicks Muse. TowerBrook.

Valuations went up: £101 million.

Then £185 million.

In 2011, Labelux bought the brand for £525.5 million.

Mellon walked away with an estimated £85 million.

In 2013, she launched her own namesake brand: Tamara Mellon.

No wholesale.

No inflated pricing.

No six-month delays between design and delivery.

Instead, she launched a direct-to-consumer brand with monthly product drops.

She offered a two-year cobbler guarantee with every pair.

Her brand would also not work with any manufacturer that lacked women in executive roles.

But in 2015, her company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Her former backers accused her of misusing company funds, pointing to expenses like a $100,000 Met Gala appearance.

Mellon eventually secured a fresh $10M investment from NEA.

By 2019, she had raised $87M in total.

The brand was still alive and still growing.

In her memoir, In My Shoes, she wrote about the addictions, the rehab, the business fights.

She even sued her own mother in 2008 for secretly taking £5 million worth of Jimmy Choo assets that had been earmarked for Tamara’s daughter.

She joined Revlon’s board.

Advocated for pay equity and women’s education.

Set up her own charitable foundation and partnered with the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

And now, in 2025, reports say she’s looking to buy Jimmy Choo back.