Eye for an eye, shoe for a shoe, or so it goes for Tamara Mellon, who departed Jimmy Choo under murky circumstances when Labelux bought the company in 2011.
After sitting out the duration of her non-compete, Mellon is re-entering the business and fashion worlds with an eponymous new company. One of the first designs will be the “Sweet Revenge,” which took a while to exact.
“I must have tried [the prototype] on 20 times,” Mellon told us. “When the sample first came in, they didn’t measure the length of leg correctly. I tried to pull it on and it completely split!” (Perhaps the real Jimmy Choo, Mellon’s co-founding cobbler who sold his stake in — and name to — the company in 2001, could have helped.)
The thigh-high boots, which will retail for $1,995, are comprised of one piece of leather and one of suede, and come in combination sizes.
“Every shoe size has two pants sizes. If you’re a 37, you can say I want the small or medium pant size,” Mellon explains, adding that she plans to open a boutique next fall if she can find the right spot.
In the meantime, she’s busy publicizing “In My Shoes,” her new memoir (out earlier this month) about her tumultuous relationship with her family, her former husband Matthew Mellon and her departure from Choo. Revenge aside, Mellon seems to be living well.