The World'S Top Shoe Designer

American rapper sherney has a popular song "Jimmy Choo high heels". The inspiration for his composition is that one day he was walking with a young model. "She was wearing a high-heeled shoes made by Jimmy Choo and looked at the 4-inch heel. My eyes were straight. I'll rap this pair of high heels, and now everyone knows about Jimmy Choo. " Yes, now everyone knows about Jimmy Choo, or every woman knows about it. it's Princess Diana's favorite shoe brand. Madonna is wearing it to enter the marriage hall. Sarah Jessica pike screams "don't take my shoes" in "sex and the city". Countless actresses wear it to show their sexy ankles on the red carpet. What makes these people obsessed with these four inch high heels? The answer is behind it, because its designer is Jimmy Choo and Zhou Yangjie. This Chinese American shoe-making master from Malaysia, with his delicate man's mind and superb hand-made technology, has created "magic shoes" that make women crazy! as a shoe-making master who is popular among European and American celebrities and Hollywood stars, the career of Jimmy Choo can not be said to be unsuccessful. However, the Chinese Malaysian, formerly known as Zhou Yangjie, did not start smoothly, and his youth was even called hardship. Zhou Yangjie lived in Penang, Malaysia, where he was born before he went to England. Father is also a shoemaker, can make all kinds of leather shoes, handcraft is also good. In the era, it was cheap to sell shoes, but it had no value in life. As a child, Zhou Yangjie was familiar with the steps of making shoes when he was seven or eight years old. When he was 11 years old, he could make a pair of slippers for himself. Although the craftsmanship was ordinary, it was the first time for the master of shoes. Later, because of his family background, Zhou Yangjie, who had only read about "little six", was forced to drop out of school and formally follow his father to make shoes to make a living. However, in Penang at that time, shoemakers were highly looked down upon. They had neither life security nor technical content. Zhou Yangjie once gave an example that if a local girl married a shoemaker, she would certainly suffer strong opposition from her family members to prove the low status of the shoemaker at that time. Zhou Yangjie, who didn't want to live like this, decided to explore the outside world and finally chose Kant weinas College of the British University of art in London. According to his later recollection, the reason why he chose Britain was that Malaysia was once a British colony, and English was relatively easy to accept. Moreover, London was still an important fashion capital in the 1980s. As for Kant weinas college, the teachers who made shoes were world famous people, so it was very appropriate to go there to learn shoe making. At that time, he successfully passed the interview with his own design works, and with the support of his father and friends, he began to study in the UK. Zhou Yangjie, who is an international student, has to study hard. Besides, he has to pay 300 pounds a year for tuition. After all, it is a huge burden for a student from a poor family in Malaysia. So from the second school year, he began to work part-time. Once he returned to a restaurant run by Hong Kong people to wash dishes and do chores. Although he was a Hakka, he was born in Malaysia. His Cantonese accent was very different from that of Hong Kong people. Communication became very difficult. The boss always used a series of swearing words when he was in a hurry. However, he still resisted it in order to make a living. On the contrary, he did not enter the shoes factory as an excellent student. After becoming famous, Zhou Yangjie was deeply touched by his learning experience. He thought that it was that experience that made him change from a craftsman who only knew how to make shoes to a designer who really knew how to design. The year 1986 was the most important year of Zhou Yangjie's life. He started his own studio in harlek, an immigrant neighborhood in East London, and insisted on hand-made shoes for 30 pounds each. However, there were few patrons. He was still very poor and worried about his livelihood every day. Instant noodles were his most common food. He could not even afford his favorite roast goose when he passed through Chinatown. After two years of hard work, a turning point appeared. In 1988, his high-heeled shoes were discovered by vogue, a fashion magazine, and made a special topic for it. The fashion circles in London and even Europe began to know that high-heeled shoes made by a Chinese American designer were very good. More fashion editors of fashion magazines kept asking Zhou Yangjie for works in order to shoot fashion blockbusters. Some fashion designers began to invite him to participate in their own fashion shows. Everything seemed to get better. However, the fact is that Zhou Yangjie did not immediately become rich, on the contrary, he became poorer. The reason is that he is short of capital turnover. In order to meet the needs of media and designers from all over the world to promote shoes, he has to pay his own money to make these shoes. Once he wanted to get a bank loan, but he was rejected because of his lack of fame. He fell into a strange circle of increasing fame and negative profits. It was Diana, the British Princess, who changed all this. Once, the assistant of famous designer Thomas strossky recommended Zhou Yangjie to Princess Diana. In the summer of 1990, Zhou was invited to Kensington Palace to Meet Diana for the first time. He was so happy that he didn't sleep all night. The next day, Diana kindly invited him to have afternoon tea, but according to him, he forgot what he had eaten because he felt very nervous and shy. The young princess opened the closet to let him see what kind of shoes her skirt was suitable for. Zhou Yangjie drew some sketches on the spot, and Princess Dai ordered six pairs of shoes. The two became friends from then on. Business began to roll along with his meeting with the most famous woman in the world. It is said that the last pair of shoes made by Diana before her death was Beige flat sole shoes. Zhou Yangjie had an appointment with her and sent them to Kensington Palace on September 1. Unexpectedly, she was killed in a car accident in Paris. The friendship between Zhou Yangjie and Princess Dai has been talked about by the media and asked about in every interview. And he did not hide his gratitude and respect for Princess Dai. In an interview, Zhou Yangjie talked about his feelings about Dai Fei, "she is a very beautiful woman. As the princess of England, she uses her image to support the British fashion industry and train British designers. It was she who gave many young British designers the chance to be known by the world, including me. It's very important to me. The whole world loves her so much. Her every smile affects people. I can only say that she is lucky to wear her own shoes on her feet. Once, at a private dance party, Diana came up to me and said, "Jimmy, there are so many beautiful women tonight, why don't you find a partner for yourself? If you have a partner, say to me, if you want me to be beautiful? Under the leadership of Princess Diana, many celebrities and royal family members have become loyal customers of Zhou Yangjie. The OBE was awarded by the queen in 2002. There is also an interesting story about the origin of this supreme glory. One day in December 2002, he received a letter with his full name and suffix OBE written on it. At first, Zhou thought it was a joke of his friends, and then he found out that it was the official envelope of Buckingham Palace. He was awarded OBE for making London the world's fashion design center, the letter said. He was so excited that he yelled, "Oh, my God!" In 1996, Zhou found an investor, Mara Mellon, the daughter of British tycoon Tommy yerday. Mara Mellon, who was a fashion accessories editor for vogue for five years, has always been interested in high-heeled shoes. She met Zhou in her early fashion projects and appreciated his shoes very much. After getting a loan of $225000 from his rich father, they co founded a company named after Zhou Yangjie in English. From then on, Zhou Yangjie, a Chinese from Malaysia, became a world-famous shoe maker. as a partner of the company, Mara Mellon not only invested in the design, opening, public relations and mass production of the Jimmy Choo brand series, but also actively promoted the establishment of exclusive stores in various regions. In just four years since its establishment, Mara Mellon has opened 32 stores with remarkable achievements. One thing happened during this period, which greatly promoted the company's performance, that is, the broadcast of "sex and the city", which is popular all over the world. As a favorite of "shoe crazy" Kelly, Sarah Jessica Parker often walks on the streets of Manhattan with 4-inch high-heeled shoes produced by Jimmy Choo. Gradually, ordinary people also know that Jimmy Choo's shoes are easy to wear and beautiful to wear. In his fifth year of cooperation, Zhou Yangjie sold 51% of his shares to equinox, a luxury goods company, in 2001. With the company's authorization to continue to use his name, he set up his own custom-made shoe studio in London again, making 4-inch high-heeled shoes by hand for distinguished guests. The price of each pair of shoes is between 400 and 800 pounds. Zhou Yangjie was no longer a cash strapped kid when he set up his studio again. A large number of celebrities and famous actresses lined up to make a pair of shoes, especially in recent years, his shoes have become the favorite of the major awards ceremony including the Oscar. Zhou Yangjie has revealed that it will take about three or four weeks to order a pair of high-heeled shoes in his studio. As everyone's feet are different, so after the guests come, they should first measure their feet to make foot molds, and then refer to the evening dress they are wearing before they can start to design new shoes. Because they are hand-made, each pair of shoes takes a lot of time, but stars often don't care so much. They always hope to wear them in the shortest possible time. For example, his Malaysian hometown, Chinese actress Michelle Yeoh, will call me in advance when attending the Oscars or other important activities: "Jimmy, time is very tight! I can only give you these shoes for two weeks... " shoe making concept only makes four inch high heels anyone who knows Zhou Yangjie will know his insistence, that is to make only 4 inch high heels. As for the reason why he loves 4-inch high heels, he explains: "4-inch is a health problem. High or short high-heeled shoes can make people uncomfortable and have bad balance. My father is a shoe maker. Chinese people like to study business and how to get more business. So we know what kind of shoes are our favorite and most comfortable. The height of 4 inches is also obtained in this way. " according to a survey conducted by Italian media on famous social stars and celebrities, as supporters of the brand of Jimmy Choo, such as Julian Moore, Catherine Zeta Jones and Julia Roberts, almost all mentioned the keywords of "elegant design" and "comfortable wearing". To meet the above requirements is related to Zhou Yangjie's another insistence, which is handmade. It is said that among the more than 10 pairs of shoes he always keeps, there are his own handmade ones. "Fashion trends are changing rapidly, big head, super high heel and so on are not the mainstream, the mainstream is always comfortable." How to make it comfortable? "Handmade under the guidance of my father's traditional experience, the shoes will adapt to the shape of the feet after wearing, and the more comfortable they are.". Marilyn Monroe, one of the stars who "met" with Jimmy Choo, once said, "I only wear N.5 when I sleep!" To describe her love for Chanel's perfume. In May last year, Victoria, Kate Moss, Paris Hilton, model Heidi Klum These stars, who are hot in the entertainment industry, have proved their love for the four inch heels of Jimmy Choo, wearing only the shoes of Jimmy Choo and photographing the publication four feet naked.