Jimmy Choo was born in Penang, Malaysia in 1961 into a family of shoe maker, where his late father, Choo Kee Yin owned a shoe making shop in one of the streets in Penang. He went to Shih Chung primary school and studied until year 6. He stopped to help his father in the shoe making business where he made his very own first shoe at the age of 11. The skills he learned made him fell in love with the shoe making business and from there he decided to pursue studying in the field of shoe designing in Cortwainers College in London (now part of London College of Fashion). The course took him 4 years to complete. After graduating in London, Jimmy Choo went back for a while to Malaysia before deciding to try making a living in London. 

He set up his very first factory in 1986 by renting an old hospital building in London. His sales were poor and Jimmy had to endure the worst 4 years of his life. After 2 years his designs were spotted by Vogue magazine that featured his designs in a record 8 full pages. Jimmy thought his break had come but sadly it did not happen so. His appearance made him more famous but did not increase his sales. He still had a very small number of clients. However, two years later his designs were spotted by the late Princess Diana, who immediately fell in love with them. She had since become Jimmy Choo’s regular customers. After the media covered Diana’s story wearing Jimmy Choo’s shoe design, sales started pouring in, and Jimmy has never looked back since. 

Today, Jimmy Choo is the footwear’s leading brand even though he is no longer part of his own company, Jimmy Choo Ltd (He retired and sold all his shares for over ￡100 million a few years back). The company’s brand has huge followers and hordes of fans including celebrities and politicians. Jimmy Choo’s designs are also spotted in popular movies such as The Devils Wear Prada (Meryl Streep) and In My Shoes (Cameron Diaz). 

He retired from Jimmy Choo now, and currently attended 2019 The Brand Laureate Awards. At 2019 The Brand Laureate Awards, he awarded for his contribution to the development of the field of footwear design.