descent. Choo's father, a shoemaker who made all of his shoes by hand, taught him the craft. "My parents were shoemakers and I have followed my father's lead. He inspired me," said Jimmy Choo. He made his first pair of shoes when he was 11 years old--a pair of slippers.

Between 1982 and 1984, Choo studied at Cordwainers Technical College in Hackney (now part of the London College of Fashion) in London. He went to a design firm to work after graduation,