Imagine a university where your professor is the one and only Jimmy Choo – sounds too good to be true, right? Wrong. The University of Jimmy Choo – or rather the JCA London Fashion Academy, as it’s officially known – actually exists. And it’s everything you dreamed of.
The designer and entrepreneur set up the JCA London Fashion Academy with business partner Stephen Smith to offer design students all the tools they need to start their own successful brands, from developing entrepreneurship to building relationships with key industry contacts.
The school is set in a Grade II listed, Georgian townhouse in London’s iconic Hanover Square. Luckily, the only intimidating part of visiting is the impressive facade – Professor Choo prides himself on the JCA’s friendly atmosphere, something I witness upon arrival at the academy, where I am to spend the afternoon with the man himself. In our interview, Professor Choo refers to the JCA as the ‘Jimmy Choo family’. The idea is that if you study at the academy, you make friends – and business connections, from across the world – for life.
His point is perfectly illustrated when afterwards, in the lift, I bump into one of the academy’s star students, Olivia Black, whose graduate collection is displayed on the ground floor. A recent graduate of the JCA’s ‘Fashion, Entrepreneurship, Design and Brand Innovation’ Master’s programme, Black now helps out at the JCA alongside growing her own brand. JCA really is like a family – and a very stylish one at that.
Read my conversation with the legendary shoe designer-turned-professor, below.
What inspired you to first create the academy?
My father always taught me to pass down skills and knowledge to the younger generation, and this philosophy has always pushed me to give back to society. With this greater sense of responsibility, my dear friend Stephen Smith and I co-founded JCA in 2021. Learners come to JCA with Ideas and aspirations, and we hone their skills with design and business knowledge, aiming to get the best out of their ideas. Our goal at JCA is to pass on knowledge and ensure that we instil a business mindset in them to make them successful entrepreneurs.
We welcome people from all over the world – [the academy] is not only for UK students. There are international students from India, from Switzerland, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and more.
What is the number one piece of advice you give to your students?
When a student starts I tell them, ‘You are part of the Jimmy Choo family here. You have to learn to love each other. Help each other. Don't be jealous. Deliver on your promises. When you've finished your studies, you want to sell your pieces? [During one’s studies at the JCA], you will have made connections with people from across the world.’
Designer, entrepreneur and professor are just three of your roles – how do you do it all?
I love what I do. I don't feel old. No, in my heart I'm still a 50-year-old man. [Some people might say], ‘I want to retire now, I made all the money, what do I do? I go to a beach. I go to a country house. Have food, do some tai chi and sleep early?’ No, that’s not me. I like to see things. I create something nice, people will wear it.
My love of shoes started from an early age.
What was the moment you first fell in love with shoes and the art of shoemaking?
My father was a shoemaker and taught me the craft among other very valuable lessons. My love of shoes started from an early age. I learnt all my skills, the design skills from my father. He learned how to design, how to cut patterns – all by hand, without machines. For one year [before moving to London to study at Cordwainers], I watched my father to learn how he designed shoes.
You’re an inspiration to many – who and what inspires you?
My father and my mum. I remember my mum learning shoe design from my father. My father never taught me. He just said, ‘Sit. Sit for a month. Watch, see how we do.’ I said, ‘Mum, why? Father, why?’ I asked them, ‘Why don’t you teach me? I've been sitting down here all the time. And I can't even see what you're doing.’ They said, ‘We want to teach you how to be patient.’
[They showed me] how to do things right. How to be honest to people. Don't let people down.
It’s notoriously hard for young designers to break into the industry – tell me a little about how the academy can help them do this?
We believe that designers should have knowledge across all business sectors in their field. From sales and customer service to marketing and PR, they have to run a whole business in order to succeed. Therefore we try to give them all the skills they need to have the best chance of success. The network that they leave us with is perhaps the most important thing learners can receive from their education with us. As well as a mentality that prepares them for a tough industry. It’s also important they learn kindness and openness and how to treat their collaborators with respect and care.
Of all the shoes you’ve ever created, can you pick a favourite pair – and why?
I designed a pair of shoes for my mother that I called ‘Puppy’ which was her nickname for me as a child. Creating them was one of my fondest memories. I'll never forget her reaction when she opened the box and saw them for the first time.
What was the moment you knew you’d made it?
I have certainly experienced many moments of pride, from personally creating shoes for Princess Diana and other beautiful women in the world. I realised that I had ‘made it’ when Vogue did an eight-page story on Jimmy Choo shoes so early. In recent years, seeing the success of emerging designers I've mentored feels great too, so opening the JCA is one of my biggest dreams to come true, to date.
Find out more about the JCA London Fashion Academy at www.jca.ac.uk
