Bonjour KL: My lunch date with THE one and only Jimmy Choo

My love for shoes is well-documented on this blog, and with over 100 pairs of heels neatly labeled, boxed and squeezed into my bedroom, it’s safe to say I am a little bit obsessed with foot candy.

If you would have asked me which designer I would love to meet one day it would always be a shoe designer. Whether an icon like Manolo Blahnik whose comfy and classic pumps I’ve been wearing for years, Nicholas Kirkwood who creates some beautiful well-constructed and quirky shoes or even Christian Louboutin whose red soles tempt me every time I’m in his Paris boutique and I end up with an empty wallet!

But with all due respect to the above designers, there is only one designer who stands out for me. His name is synonymous with shoes and his work has transcended generations. In short, he is probably the first real superstar shoe icon of our modern times: Mr Jimmy Choo.

A moment to treasure: Meeting up with shoe legend Mr Jimmy Choo! 

Bonjour KL: Young aspiring Malaysian designers steal the show at the country's International Shoe Festival

Shoes, shoes shoes… my recent (and maiden!) trip to Malaysia has turned out to be all about shoes!

And I don’t mean just shoe shopping! Although that was firmly on my list to do (check out my love for Malaysian shoe labels here), believe it or not, I got to do more interesting shoe-related stuff namely attending the annual Shoe Festival in Kuala Lumpur and meeting shoe legend Jimmy Choo for lunch!

I’ll discuss the latest in another post as I still need to get my head around the fact I was with the Godfather of glamorous shoes himself!!!! But today it’s going to be all about the talented students I met at the 4^th International Shoe Festival and the utterly inspiring shoes they displayed!

The Shoe Festival seemed more like a museum with showpieces like
this Dragon-inspired pump which just loved!

Another extravagant design on display at the Shoe Festival...

But while some went all out, others kept it more simple yet inspiring.
I especially loved these booties!!!

Love these shoes made from recycled material by promising student Soo Tzu Hoo!
I WANT!!! (check a lot more photos below)

Lewre: Shoes fit for a Princess (or the Duchess of Cambridge)

In my last post, while admiring Kate’s choices of clothes in the Royals’ Singapore visit, I couldn’t help but notice her uninspiring choice of footwear.

From the LK Bennet nude pumps which are too plain and dated (she even wore them to meet Jimmy Choo himself!!) to her navy blue wedges… I mean wedges, come on Kate???

The good news is that someone else - the Malaysian royals - has also noticed, and decided to do something about it. For amongst the lavish gifts exchanged on landing in Kuala Lumpur was a pair of custom-made Lewre shoes.

I've expressed my love for Malaysia's best fashion export - shoes - on this blog before. And after seeing kate's gift – an exquisite and delicate pair of black lace peep toe heels– I could not be more convinced.

The gorgeous Lewre pair of heels and clutch which the Duchess of Cambridge got as a
present from the Malaysian Royals!

Jimmy Choo who? Four Malaysian Shoe Labels You Should Know About

Like most girls out there, shoes are my guilty pleasure! I can spend hours and hours browsing the internet for shoe inspirations and day dreaming about those stilettos that look like pieces of art – yet are not really functional.

Since moving to Asia, I wanted to discover more South East Asian shoe brands and to my surprise - or not really – most of the cool shoe labels came from Malaysia. It might be the Jimmy Choo effect but again the styles are hardly similar to the shoe legends designs and vary widely from elegant and simple to edgy and avant-garde.

There is definitely something for everyone and even better, they all come at an affordable price point and are available online for those who don’t reside in the country.

So here are the Malaysian shoe labels you should know about – and stock in your closet:

CHIYO is one of the new labels proving that Mayalsia might as well be the
shoe capital of the region!

How elegant is this pair from rising shoe designer Benson Chen?