Jimmy Choo’s Penang
The famous shoe designer is passionate about his Malaysian homeland, Gemma Nisbet finds.
These days he’s one of the best-known names in the fashion business, but for the young Jimmy Choo, growing up on the Malaysian island of Penang, life was all about simple childhood pleasures: swimming in the ocean, building tree houses, eating at the hawker markets with his family.
Born and raised in Penang, the renowned footwear designer has long been synonymous with glamour and a celebrity clientele — including, notably, the late Princess Diana.
He co-founded the luxury accessories brand which bears his name in the mid-1990s and can now lay claim to being a genuine fashion icon, having received an Order of the British Empire and the honorary Malaysian title of Datuk.
In Perth recently as part of his role as tourism ambassador for Malaysia, Professor Choo reminisced about this “very peaceful and very relaxing” time over lunch at Silks Restaurant in Crown Perth.
“We were a close family, my father and my mum — I’m the only son, I’ve got one sister,” he says.
His father, a shoemaker, was an important formative influence, teaching him martial arts (Professor Choo continues to practise tai chi) and taking him to the hawker stalls in the evening “to have some dessert or some char kway teow and all those kinds of things”.
“On the weekend I remember we had bicycles — we would tour around the island for four, five hours. In those days, there were not many cars so it was quite simple and easy.”
A long-time London resident, Professor Choo continues to be a regular visitor to his birthplace, despite his hectic travel schedule. His sister still lives in Penang and he has even bought a townhouse on the island, in an eco-friendly development designed by his friend, architect Ken Yeang.
He speaks with considerable enthusiasm about Penang’s heritage buildings, natural beauty and the “very kind, very sincere” locals. Then there’s the shopping: “We have top brands like Chanel, Gucci, Fendi and all those big brands in Penang, but then if you want to buy a local designer, you can buy that as well. We have the whole mix together.”
Professor Choo’s passion is particularly evident when he discusses one of Penang’s most famous attractions: its food.
“Every time you go out you can get different kind of food — you have Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian, it’s a multiculture,” he says.
“I like to have Hainanese chicken rice, I love chicken rice. I like char kway teow, and laksa as well. I love satay — in Penang, satay is different to in some of the other (Malaysian) States. We use charcoal to grill satay; it’s very delicious.”
Aside from the famous hawkers stalls, which Professor Choo says can be found just about everywhere in Penang — “north, south, east, west” — Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort, at the popular Ferringhi Beach, is a favourite spot.
“On Sunday afternoon I love to go to Rasa Sayang — they do a good chicken rice, char kway teow, the buffet.
“I love to spend time there on the weekend.”
For more information on Penang, see tourismmalaysia.com.au.
