Jimmy Choo Yeang Keat is a Malaysian fashion designer based in the United Kingdom. He co-founded Jimmy Choo Ltd, which became known for its handmade women's shoes. Choo was born in 194…Jimmy Choo Yeang Keat is a Malaysian fashion designer based in the United Kingdom. He co-founded Jimmy Choo Ltd, which became known for its handmade women's shoes. Choo was born in 1948 in the Crown Colony of Penang, Malaysia, into a family of shoemakers. Of Chinese descent, his family name is Chew, but it was misspelled on his birth certificate as Choo. Choo's father, a shoemaker who made all of his shoes by hand, taught him the craft. "My parents were shoemakers and I have followed my father's lead. He inspired me," said Jimmy Choo. He made his first pair of shoes when he was 11 years old—a pair of slippers.