It’s one of Sex and the City’s most memorable scenes, at least among the fashion crowd: Carrie Bradshaw sprints in a pair of feather-trimmed lilac suede slingback heels, hoping to flag down the Long Island Ferry when one shoe flies off. “Waiiiit! I lost my Choo!” she screams in defeat as the boat sails away and leaves her a Jimmy Choo-less Cinderella.
The season three, episode one SATC moment helped footwear designer Jimmy Choo become a household name synonymous with luxury heels worth protecting at all costs. Three decades later, as part homage to its big TV break and part celebration of its 30th brand anniversary, Jimmy Choo is launching an archival collection of reissued silhouettes—including Carrie’s beloved kitten heel that was collateral damage to a date gone wrong.
The brand’s eight-item capsule only features pairs from its first five years of operation, from 1997 to 2001. As such, each shoe has an authentic late-’90s and early-aughts POV. It tracks well with today’s fashion trends, considering almost every other designer is on a nostalgic kick and rewinding back to the turn of the century.
Along with Carrie’s almost-lost heel, named “72138” after its serial code, Jimmy Choo’s archival collcetion includes the Strappy, a sultry, criss-crossing sandal first presented for Spring 1997, and the Thong, a high-shine heel fit with a silver chainmail vamp similar to the textiles Paris Hilton wore throughout the early 200s. Jimmy Choo is also reviving its ankle-strapped, leopard-printed Leo sandal, another heel Bradshaw helped popularize by wearing it in the HBO show’s dun-dun-dun-dun intro with a pink tank top and white tutu.
“We looked at three decades of work and dialed back to the first five years. Why? Because those years truly represent the heart and soul of Jimmy Choo—they’re our roots, where it all began,” Jimmy Choo’s creative director, Sandra Choi, explained in a press release. “And in looking at these styles, I saw ideas that are still essential to Jimmy Choo today—eternal values of glamour, of femininity, combined with make and craft.”
In yet another example of blending the past with the present, Choi worked alongside London-based fashion designer Conner Ives, whose name you know from designing the viral “Protect the Dolls” T-shirt, and the fashion journalist and critic Alexander Fury, both relevant players in the industry’s current landscape.
“This collection is about where we’ve come from, and what we stand for, and where we continue to go. It’s a celebration, pure and simple—and Jimmy Choo can always ignite a party,” said Choi.
Jimmy Choo’s archival drop, which ranges from a $795 slip-on mule to a python-printed $1,795 leather boot, is live now on the brand’s site and in select stores.
