Global luxury accessories brand Jimmy Choo marks its first commission with Symmetrical Repeats by Emirati artist Shaikha Al Mazrou, a continuation of its support, belief and investment in celebrating art, craft and creativity.
Jimmy Choo might largely be in the collective public schema as a brand known for glamorous footwear, with Sandra Choi, the brand’s creative director, describing its creations as “pieces of emotional fashion sculptures that enhance an outfit or are simply adorned”. These words, however, reveal a quiet connection to the art world. While the brand now sees Hannah Colman as CEO, it was founded in 1996 by Malaysian Chinese shoemaker Jimmy Choo and editor Tamara Mellon in London. By the 2000s, it had started collaborating with artists to photograph its collections or produce limited-edition designs. One of the first such initiatives was with American photorealism painter Richard Phillips, with whom two bags were designed and debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2007. Since then, the brand has worked with the likes of Rob Pruitt, Nan Goldin, Mat Collishaw and Marilyn Minter. Come 2024, a new direction was marked, that of commissioning. It is “an act of supporting and believing, so it is an investment into something that we trust and embrace,” says Choi. “This is community building with creatives.”
The personal and evocative nature of art has an ability to transport viewers, thereby bringing an exciting dynamic into the Jimmy Choo universe. “As a creative luxury brand, it is important to be part of the broader artistic community and conversation,” says Choi. “Having a global platform, we can amplify the work of local talent to our wider community.” For its first commission-acquisition, the Jimmy Choo brand approached Shaikha Al Mazrou, known for her large-scale sculptural investigations of materiality, which play with formal and perceptive tension and rely heavily on the core tenets of artistic theory.
The result of this collaboration, Symmetrical Repeats, was unveiled last autumn at Dubai gallery Lawrie Shabibi and accompanied by a panel discussion with Al Mazrou, Choi, and gallery co-founder William Lawrie, with Maán Jalal, a writer and arts and culture reporter, serving as moderator. Al Mazrou’s red-steel sculpture is directly inspired by the brand’s faceted Diamond motif but interpreted through the artist’s characteristic sensorial manipulation. She perceives the world around her through a sculptural lens, rendering even the banal as compositions of shape, texture and structure which can be artistically engaged with to reveal deeper meaning and potential for abstraction. This approach turned the brand’s design device into a sculpture bearing its own independent identity and presence. “I explored the relationship between structure and materiality. I wanted to create a piece that reflected both the elegance of the brand and the complexity of my artistic practice. I was inspired by the idea of folds – something that’s prevalent not only in art and design but also in fashion and architecture,” explains Al Mazrou. “The symmetrical, repetitive nature of the folds served as a visual metaphor for both the refined elegance associated with Jimmy Choo and the deeper, more abstract exploration of form that is central to my work.”
The commission also reflects the brand’s recent impetus to include locationally sensitive works of art in its retail spaces. With its final installation being in the flagship Jimmy Choo store at The Dubai Mall, Symmetrical Repeats will diversify the understanding and appreciation of the visual motifs that Jimmy Choo has developed. “Art doesn’t exist in isolation,” notes Al Mazrou. “It interacts with its surroundings, and its relationship with the space and the viewer is key to its impact”, adding that rather than existing in a “neutral, sterile” gallery environment, the intimate and commercial atmosphere allows visitors to interact with the physicality of the space and products, shifting the context of an artwork and assimilating it within the luxury retail experience. The work’s red hue also has particular impact. While a reference to Jimmy Choo’s Autumn 2024 palette, red holds particular emotional and conceptual significance in Al Mazrou’s practice, which pays careful attention to colour theory and its affective qualities. Symmetrical Repeats is purposefully a bold red, functioning as a focal point that draws attention to the work as much as it disrupts the viewer’s experience of form.
The collaboration between Al Mazrou and Jimmy Choo broke new ground for both parties. The Abu Dhabi-based artist and NYU Abu Dhabi university professor, who has exhibited at Desert X AlUla, Frieze Sculpture, Art Basel Hong Kong, been shortlisted for the Richard Mille Art Prize, and produced a site-specific work for Jameel Arts Centre, has a body of work exhibiting weight and fragility, where form belies its materiality. Her intellectual and technical visual play incite sensations that do not typically correspond to qualities valued in wearable items. The commission also presented the challenge of balancing motivations: the abstract, often experimental nature of Al Mazrou’s work versus the commercially driven needs of a luxury brand. It “required a nuanced negotiation of artistic freedom and brand identity,” she says.
The outcome of such navigation suggests a surprising, even unexpected, meeting of like minds. “I love the contradictions in Shaikha’s work, I love how her work appears to be one thing then becomes something else once one gets into the detail,” explains Choi. “I find her approach simple yet powerful, with the form she creates somehow endorsing the softer touch, creating something rather feminine but with strength.” Both brand and artist embody craftsmanship, structure and detailed finesse, exploring the transformative potential of design and executing elegantly powerful creations, albeit in vastly different forms. “Navigating and translating inspirations from different fields can be challenging because each discipline operates under its own set of conventions, aesthetics and conceptual frameworks,” admits Al Mazrou. “When combining elements from, say, art, design, fashion and architecture, the challenge lies in maintaining the integrity of each field while creating a harmonious synthesis.”
Recalling the first time she saw Symmetrical Repeats, Choi says “it was striking in size and the perfect red – so poised, soothing, so very chic, and bold. The piece appears soft yet firm, it oozes sensuality and passion. I kept thinking it was coated with the flocking of a velvet finish that draws you in, to get close and to touch.” Design from both parties is considered and subtle, whether in the context of the structure of a heel base or the way in which Al Mazrou conceptualised the work. Merging her artistic exploration of folds and creases with the brand’s vision of elegance, glamour and joy, she manipulated paper to create diamond facets, which then translated into metal with ever-so-softly curved planes. “Folding and creasing paper or materials transforms them into something more dynamic, just as Jimmy Choo’s designs transform materials into elegant, wearable art,” explains Al Mazrou. “The intersection of art and fashion in this collaboration allowed me to explore this synthesis of artistry and craftsmanship in a new context.”
Jimmy Choo’s patronage signals its commitment to supporting artistic talent, and by inaugurating this initiative in the UAE, it champions and expands engagement with the country’s vibrant cultural identity. “The Emirati art scene is so energetic,” observes Choi, and the choice of Al Mazrou affirms the artist’s position as a leading practioner pushing the boundaries of contemporary sculpture. It also points to a new direction for Jimmy Choo, one where the brand will serve as a more active platform to forge extended communities celebrating creativity. “Life is about learning, I believe. If we don’t exchange then there will be no progression or evolution,” says Choi. “The lines are continually blurring between the worlds of art and fashion, each influencing the other. They are very much connected and we see ourselves as part of this ongoing process.”
