Tamara Mellon shelves UK expansion plans

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 3, 2017

Tamara Mellon has shelved plans to launch in the UK with the luxury brand owner saying that US sales have seen an “explosion” and that she does not have time to spend on a British debut.

She said earlier that a dedicated website for the British market selling her high-end footwear would launch by the end of last year.

But it now emerges from documents filed with Companies House that the UK subsidiary set up to handle her UK-re-entry was dissolved during March.

Mellon, who founded Jimmy Choo along with the eponymous designer but there were disagreements and the brand’s major growth phase came with her in sole control. However, she left the firm in 2011 and launched her own luxury brand two years after her split with Choo.

While her new company got plenty of press attention, it filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and Mellon later won a court case against a number of investors in the firm.

She relaunched her brand last autumn selling high-end shoes and bags online. She has also just opened a pop-up store in Los Angeles that features her bestsellers “plus a select few exclusive styles, as well as offering walk-in and by-appointment shopping and styling services.”