Tamara Mellon, whose resignation as Jimmy Choo's chief creative officer shocked the fashion world on Saturday, has suggested she may launch her own brand next year.
Mellon will remain an employee of luxury shoe brand until the end of the year, but but told the Financial Times:
"Anyone who knows me knows there will be a new venture afoot; this is not the end. My passion is creating things, and I have a big vision."
Mellon has good form for fashion success. For years, the only stiletto-maker in town had been Manolo Blahnik, as immortalised in fashionistas' favourite, Sex in the City. Then along came Mellon with a £150,000 loan and founded a global fashion empire in 1996 that has been expanding ever since. Jimmy Choo became a Vogue hit and the label has never looked back.
A source also told the Telegraph that Mellon's ambitions "had always stretched beyond Jimmy Choo" and this looks likely to take the form of an new eponymous luxury brand.
Mellon has retained the rights to her own name, leaving her free to create a new brand with it.
She said the decision to leave Jimmy Choo was a natural one, and is confident that whatever form her new venture takes, it will be one to watch:
"Since the announcement [of the resignation] my inbox has been flooded by emails from people saying they want to invest in whatever I do next."