Jimmy Choo Eyewear: From a Hackney Workshop to Red Carpet Glamour

Jimmy Choo built its name on shoes — specifically, the kind of stilettos that turn up on red carpets and in Carrie Bradshaw's closet. But the brand's eyewear line has quietly become just as much a part of its identity, carrying the same craftsmanship and glamour that made Jimmy Choo a household name. Here's how it happened.

A shoemaker's son in East London

Jimmy Choo's story starts long before any storefront. Born in Malaysia, Choo learned shoemaking from his father, a shoemaker who crafted every pair by hand. By age eleven, Choo had already made his first pair of shoes — a set of slippers that hinted at the career to come. He later trained formally and, in the late 1980s, set up his first workshop in a converted hospital in London's East End, in Hackney.

It didn't take long for his work to catch the industry's attention. Fashion editors, including those at British Vogue, took notice of his designs, and his shoes eventually found their way onto one of the most photographed women in the world: Princess Diana wore his designs, giving the young brand a level of visibility most new designers could only dream of.

Building a global luxury name

Choo's rising profile brought international expansion. The brand opened locations in some of the world's most prestigious shopping destinations — Sloane Street and Bond Street in London, Avenue Montaigne in Paris, Via Condotti in Rome, Madison Avenue in New York, Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and Ginza in Tokyo. Hollywood took notice too, with stars like Renée Zellweger and Julia Roberts wearing the brand, and in 2008 Jimmy Choo was named Designer Brand of the Year by the British Fashion Council.

As the company grew, so did its ambitions beyond footwear. Handbags, small leather goods, belts, scarves, and eventually eyewear all became part of a broader Jimmy Choo accessories world — while Jimmy Choo himself eventually stepped back to run a smaller, couture-focused label, leaving the wider commercial brand to a new leadership team.

Eyewear joins the collection: 2011

Jimmy Choo eyewear officially launched in 2011, translating the brand's shoe-and-handbag glamour into sunglasses and optical frames. The design instincts were the same ones that had defined Jimmy Choo shoes for two decades: sleek silhouettes, premium materials, and just enough sparkle to feel distinctly Jimmy Choo. Early and ongoing collections leaned into oversized cat-eye shapes with metallic JC detailing, oval frames set with crystal embellishments, studded butterfly shapes, and square frames dusted with glitter — bold statement pieces balanced by an underlying sense of timelessness, built to outlast passing trends rather than chase them.

Sandra Choi, who became creative director in 2013, has led the design direction across the brand's full accessories range, including eyewear, continuing to steer Jimmy Choo's identity toward the "cosmopolitan," confident woman the brand has marketed to since its earliest handbag and shoe collections.

Behind the scenes: who actually makes the glasses

Like most fashion houses, Jimmy Choo doesn't manufacture its own eyewear — it partners with dedicated eyewear specialists who handle design execution, production, and global distribution under license. From 2007, that partner was the Italian eyewear group Safilo, known for manufacturing frames domestically in Italy using premium acetates and metals.

That changed in 2024, when Jimmy Choo's parent company, Capri Holdings, signed a ten-year licensing agreement with EssilorLuxottica — the world's largest eyewear manufacturer — to design, produce, and distribute Jimmy Choo eyewear worldwide starting in 2024, with an option to extend the partnership by another five years. The first collection under the new agreement launched in early 2024, continuing to be developed under Sandra Choi's creative direction.

Where the brand stands today

Modern Jimmy Choo eyewear spans everything from tortoiseshell cat-eye frames and leopard-print temple details to gold-toned aviators and oversized, rimless vintage-inspired styles — built from Italian acetate and lightweight metals, and finished with the brand's now-signature mix of luxury detailing and wearable glamour. Every pair ships with an authenticity sticker and serial number, a nod to how closely eyewear counterfeiting tracks the brand's popularity.