Edition: U.S. / Global  Who Is Jimmy Choo?  By Phoebe Eaton
Published: December 1, 2002  Beneath the blaze of the carefully
placed umbrella heaters, in the muted glow cast by a string of
Chinese lanterns, a single cappuccino-colored ponytail whipped
from side to side as Tamara Mellon, the 33-year-old president of
Jimmy Choo shoes, planted her 26th double-cheek kiss.  There
were now seemingly as many photographers as guests on the patio
at the Buffalo Club in Santa Monica, Calif., and every time one
of their number snapped the pink-cheeked hostess in her black-
velvet ribboned breeches and corset-cleavaged Yves Saint Laurent
blouse, Mellon tilted her head coquettishly over one shoulder,
hitched a hip back in the Moll Flanders manner, shot a well-
turned ankle toward the camera and positioned her perfectly
pedicured foot just so.  Mellon was throwing this party to
celebrate the opening of Jimmy Choo's sixth store in America.
The London-based chain had just notched a space in one of the
most profitable malls in th