Fashion fans get a new shoe to Choo

GENUFLECTIONS before the altar of Gucci and deferential bows to Dolce and Gabbana - the fawning and fluttering normally on display in the Brown Thomas Shoe Rooms was reserved for just one type of footwear last night.

The designs of a Malaysian genius lured the ladies to the launch party of his Grafton St boutique where they gathered to collectively splutter over his Jimmy Choo shoes.

With barely a nod in the direction of Prada and with little interest in pausing for a FCUK, they teetered towards the shrine of the Choo, eager to pay their dues.

And pay they will. A paltry e250 will garner you a pair of flats; skyscraping stilettos can cost anything up to e950. “It depends on whether or not you go for an exotic skin,” said saleswoman Órla, and that includes (PETA alert) python skin.

The hype tells us Jimmy’s shoes “can be spotted on all the best-dressed feet” - including Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Elizabeth Hurley. Other subscribers to Choo include model Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham and the notorious Paris Hilton, who features naked on the pages of Four Inches, a photographic fundraiser for the Elton John Aids Foundation, and the brainchild of Jimmy Choo label founder Tamara Mellon.

If tottering around in sky-high heels is not your idea of girly fun, don’t dismiss the Choo. He comes with a collection of satin platforms, kitten heels and jewel-encrusted flats, and if shoes aren’t your bag, maybe handbags are. With a bag for every season and outfit, you can, we are told, enjoy the “quietly luxurious style, exquisite detail and impeccable quality” that keeps Choo addicts coming back for more.

Best sellers include the Ross bag - a Liz Hurley favourite - and Rianne, a purple tie-dye python skin bag with matching shoes. The Theola shoe range is most popular.

Although open since July, the boutique, with its signature sated panelling, crystal chandelier and mirrors, was officially launched yesterday. Amid the luxuriance of the extravagant Shoe Rooms of BTs, the Jimmy Choo boutique was recreated in the style of a 1940s boudoir.

Accessed via lilac carpet rolled out for coveted Choo customers and socialites - including Gráinne Seoige, Caroline Morahan and Louise Kennedy - the launch, with its lilac-themed cocktails and canapés, as per the trademark Choo colour, as always put its best foot forward.