Tamara Mellon

“A journalist at The Sunday Times once wrote that I often seemed ‘less an actual person than the heroine of some dicey Danielle Steel bonkathon.’ … take a plucky heroine, set her on a quest, and then subject her to every villain and viper and obstacle imaginable. Which, I suppose, is not an entirely bad summary of my life so far.”
—Tamara Mellon

The sexy, sultry powerhouse who put Jimmy Choos on Carrie Bradshaw, Hollywood’s top leading ladies, and red carpets around the world, then used her business savvy to build a billion-dollar fashion brand and became the subject of worldwide media fascination, is revealing her secrets.

In her candid debut book, In My Shoes: A Memoir (Portfolio/Penguin; October 1, 2013; Hardcover $29.95), Tamara Mellon shares her larger-than-life story, with genuinely shocking insider detail that has never been presented before. Success came at a high price—struggles with an obstinate partner and corporate power plays, a turbulent marriage, and an alcoholic mother who tried to steal her hard-earned wealth.

Her father invested £250,000 to become a partner in Vidal Sassoon, growing it into a global brand. Understated and elegant, he always flew first class, wore bespoke suits, and was part of a group that included Roger Moore, Michael Caine, and Sean Connery. Her mother was a strikingly beautiful woman, a model whose work included a print ad for Chanel. But Mellon’s seemingly glamorous childhood in preferred-postal-code mansions of Beverly Hills and London disguised a tumultuous and broken family life (her mother was prone to inexplicable and deliberate cruelties and rages), battles with anxiety and depression, and prodigious quantities of cocaine and vodka. During a stint in rehab, to punctuate long periods of self-doubt and self-loathing, Mellon considered her “plan”—starting a luxury shoe line. Determined not to end up unemployed, penniless, and living in her parents’ basement under the control of her mother, she honed her natural business sense and invested in what she knew best—fashion.

From her troubled childhood to her time as a young editor at Vogue, to her fifteen years leading Jimmy Choo, to her very public relationships, Jimmy Choo’s problematic eccentricities, becoming a mother, being named the British Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy, and being honored by the Queen with the Order of the British Empire, Mellon offers a gripping, often hilarious, poignant, and remarkable account of the episodes that have made her who she is today.

An inspiring tell-all and tell-how, In My Shoes is a definitive book for fashion aficionados, aspiring entrepreneurs, and anyone who loves a juicy true story about sex, drugs, money, power, high heels, and overcoming adversity.

ABOUT TAMARA MELLON
Tamara Mellon, OBE, has been an international force in the fashion and entrepreneurial worlds since the late 1990s. Beginning with an editorial post at British Vogue, Tamara went on to found Jimmy Choo, serving as the CEO and chief creative officer for one of the most prominent and innovative luxury brands in the world. This November, she will launch Tamara Mellon, a luxury lifestyle brand offering apparel, shoes, handbags, and accessories. She divides her time between London and New York.

ABOUT WILLIAM PATRICK
William Patrick has co-written numerous memoirs, including Sidney Poitier’s #1 bestseller The Measure of a Man.