#ShoesFirst: The story of Jimmy Choo's 20th anniversary, by numbers

This year marks 20 years since the Jimmy Choo company was founded...

This year marks 20 years since the Jimmy Choo company was founded by Mr Choo himself, and 20 years since fashion force Sandra Choi began serving as creative director.

So, to celebrate, the brand is going all out, kicking things off with a special anniversary red carpet collection and throwing it back to some of their most glamorous moments from their last two decades in shoe-business. Think insider stories on their starriest clients, think red carpet pictures galore, and think facts and figures to boggle the mind of even the greatest Choo addict.

Here’s the story of Jimmy Choo’s big birthday, by numbers…

1996 The year it all began. Jimmy Choo founded his eponymous brand from his East End atelier, bringing his niece Sandra Choi on board as creative director.

20 favourite A-listers Scroll through our gallery above to see a timeline of Sandra’s favourite stars wearing Jimmy Choo on the red carpet.

12 winners in Jimmy Choo Including Sandra Bullock’s 2010 Oscar, Beyonce’s 2013 Grammy and Kate Winslet’s 2016 Golden Globe.

1997 The year that Princess Diana first wore Jimmy Choo. ‘The light-bulb moment was when Princess Diana first stepped on to the red carpet wearing our shoes in 1997,’ Sandra explains to us in the May issue of Marie Claire. ‘It really started everything for us - all of the celebrity appearances. That idea of glamour and getting dressed up is the DNA that’s carried us through the last 20 years.’

Episode 3.1 In the first episode of Sex And The City season three, Carrie Bradshaw loses one of her platforms while running for the Staten Island Ferry. And what does she cry? ‘I lost my Choo!’

145mm We reached peak heel height between 2011 and 2013 based on this graphic showing Jimmy Choo's most popular red carpet styles over the years.

Four lovely client stories Sandra has all the best stories, of course …

‘Angelina Jolie turned up one day alone, to visit our press suite,’ she says of her first meeting with Angelina. ‘She walked around the entire room looking at all these samples. She fancied a pair of shoes and asked if she could purchase them. The memory of one of the most beautiful and stylish women in the world, wanting to buy a pair of pumps from the showroom, still makes me chuckle.’

‘She came to Jimmy Choo via her couture designers and asked Jimmy to make shoes to match,’ Sandra says of Princess Diana. ‘She had an inner radiance and was utterly normal and always on the look out for traffic wardens… little wonder when she would drive straight up to the door of our first shop on Motcomb street and park on the double yellow lines outside.’

‘I’m so flattered when the Duchess chooses to wear our shoes and bags, she has so many, many choices,' says Sandra of the Kate effect. 'I was especially thrilled when the Vamp generated so much interest in our stores after she wore them to the LA BAFTA gala.’

‘Possibly the most ‘pinch-me’ moment of my entire career was attending a reception at the White House. I was staggered by just how informed the First Lady was. She’d obviously been briefed, but she knew so much about each person at the reception – and there were many people there.’

400 patents The number of designs Jimmy Choo has had trademarked. You just can’t copy those Choos, folks.

526 feet This is the length you would get if you lined up all of the 618 pairs of Jimmy Choos that celebrities have worn to major red carpet ceremonies over the last 20 years, back to back. That’s also the same length as the Oscar red carpet, from the limo drop off to the centre stage. Holy heels.