Jimmy Choo is a shoe designer. But then you already knew that. This, in itself, is an anomaly in the world of high fashion. Most of the big names that have made it into the mass conscience – Gucci, Dior, Chanel – are all decades old, whilst as late as the 1990s, Jimmy Choo was still just an obscure shoemaker in London’s East End.

Authors Goldstein Crowe and Maceira De Rosen chronicle the brand’s exceptional and explosive rise into a household name, in this half biography (of Tamara Mellon, the company president, not Choo), half business manual. Yet, it’s packaged as chick lit. Like lemonade sold in a coffee cup, if you buy it expecting a caffeine hit, you’re left bitterly unfulfilled.

But of course, never judge a book by its cover. Goldstein Crowe is a veteran journalist and Maceira De Rosen a respected financier, their combined effort resulting in writing that is informative, meticulously researched, and thorough; but borders on the monotonous. The authors need to learn how to better separate the wheat (juicy anecdotes) from the chaff (irrelevant drivel about peripheral characters).

You can reasonably counter that business manuals are not meant to be read like tabloid columns. I doubt, however, that this book will make reading lists for any MBA programmes. Names are dropped, acquisitions are documented, but the take away point is simple – contacts are the key to success. It’s hardly rocket science. A fatal flaw is also timing; the most exciting chapter of the Choo saga is… to come. The choices that luxury brands make to survive in the midst of the financial turmoil, including the future of Jimmy Choo’s couture business, will remain a mystery due to the book’s premature release.

In sum, Goldstein Crowe and Maceira De Rosen have taken a five inch Italian leather stiletto and used it to burst the bubble of luxury goods. However, by trying to appeal to both sides of the style divide, it will not be enough to tempt the fashionistas nor redundant suits.

Published by Bloomsbury