The CEO of the fashion house Jimmy Choo has been banned from driving after being caught driving without insurance.
Hannah Colman, 46, who rose through the ranks to overall control of the designer shoe brand after starting out at just 17-years-old, appeared before magistrates today.
Colman, who earns £250,000 a year, had been pulled over when driving her Audi Q7 S line, in Chelsea, west London, in November last year.
Wearing a stylish oversized white blouse, satin black midi skirt and what appeared to be a pair of black slingback Jimmy Choos, Colman pleaded guilty at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court.
The mother-of-two, who had been driving unknowingly without insurance for almost four months, told the court she was ‘absolutely mortified’ by the incident which she insisted was a ‘genuine mistake’.
Her car, which costs upwards of £72,525, had been stopped by police while she was driving with her daughter.
Officers pulled her car over after being alerted she was not insured. They then waited with Colman until she had bought new insurance to cover the rest of the drive to her home in Clapham.
Colman had renewed her insurance policy with Privilege in July of last year, a month ahead of when the insurance was due.
She had told the court she had been sent an email saying ‘congratulations you are insured for another year’ that day.
However, the payment for the premium, which had previously been taken from her account every year since 2020, had later bounced, Colman and her representative told the court.
The insurance company had sent Colman another email in September about ‘renewing it again’ but she had ‘missed it’ as she gets ‘a lot of emails, a lot of junk’.
The fashion guru, who spoke softly as her lawyer asked various questions, told the court: ‘I was driving my daughter back home and the police pulled me over as it had pinged that I did not have insurance.
‘I was really shocked about because I was insured by Privilege through a direct debit.’
‘I have never driven without insurance,’ she added. ‘They [the officers] said I could give the insurers a call and were very nice as they stayed with me and I called them [the insurers] from the roadside.
‘When I called up the insurers said the direct debit had failed but I was unaware the direct debit had failed.
‘They [the officers] told me not to worry and just to get some insurance to drive back home. I got the insurance, took the reference number and was ready to go.’
‘There was an email sent to me in September and I missed it. It said about renewing again but I missed it. I get a lot of emails, a lot of junk but again it is my fault,’ she added. ‘It was a genuine mistake and one I am really sorry about.’
Magistrates, however, told the court that while they considered the case carefully it was their belief that it was Colman’s responsibility ‘to check the bank account and be aware that the payment wasn’t taken’.
‘We do not accept that there weren’t other emails saying it was cancelled,’ the Chief Magistrate John Tyler said.
‘Insurers would not have left it six before notifying you and the time lapse between August and November is a significant time to be driving without insurance.’
They rejected Colman’s representative’s plea for ‘special reasons’ to reduce the number of points taken and said that the CEO would have six points taken off her licence.
Colman’s lawyer, Miss Smith, had asked Magistrates to consider that Colman used her car daily to drive her two children, who are eight and 11-years-old.
Her defence also highlighted that she has an ‘active role’ caring for her step-grandchildren after her step daughter lost her husband.
Colman added: ‘I drive everyday and I take my two children to school every morning then I drive to work. I used my car at the weekend for activities with my kids and husband.’
As Colman already had six points taken off her licence for speeding, it meant that she would lose her licence for at least six months.
She was also ordered to pay a £660 fine, reduced from the initial £1,000 due to her early guilty plea. The total costs of the fine, including legal fees, was £1,017.
The chief magistrate told Colman: ‘If it’s a small consolation, your licence will be returned clean with no points.’
Colman, who gracefully accepted the sentence, said it was a ‘small consolation’ as she told Magistrates she would not drive in the next six months.
Colman quickly rose through the ranks of Jimmy Choo after starting out working at a boutique store on Motcomb Street when she was a teenager.
The 46-year-old started out aged just 17, working at Jimmy Choo’s boutique in Motcomb Street, London.
It was the same year that Jimmy Choo had been founded by Malaysian cobbler Jimmy Choo and Vogue magazine accessories editor Tamara Mellon, who nabbed a £150,000 loan from her dad to make the dream happen.
At the time, Colman was dating Ms Mellon’s youngest brother, Daniel, giving her a shoe-in to the fledgling company.
Within a year, the brand had taken off after Princess Diana was pictured wearing a pair of Choo’s pale blue sling-backs with a sparkly Catherine Walker dress for a performance of Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall in June 1997.
‘It really started everything for us,’ the brand’s creative director Sandra Choi previously admitted.
By 1998, the brand was given a bigger boost when Sex & The City premiered with Sarah Jessica Parker’s character Carrie Bradshaw wearing leopard print Jimmy Choos in the opening title.
In 1998 the brand received a further boost when Sex & The City premiered, with Sarah Jessica Parker’s character Carrie Bradshaw often seen wearing Jimmy Choos – including the famous leopard print pair in the opening title.
As the fortunes of the brand continued to surge, so did Colman’s career and by 1997 she had been made retail director before becoming European retail director in 2004.
As brands began to increasingly move online, Colman became senior vice president for Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa in September 2008.
She held that position until being promoted again, this time to president of Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa, global ecommerce and customer relationship management.
In May 2020, she had climbed the ladder so far she was now CEO – a position she still holds today.
A press release from owners Capri Holdings Limited at the time said: ‘Ms Colman has an unrivalled knowledge and understanding of the Jimmy Choo brand as one of the company’s earliest employees joining 24 years ago as store manager in the first boutique on Motcomb Street, London.
‘From there she went on to serve in a number of roles including most recently President EMEA and Global E-commerce. Currently she has been serving as Interim CEO.’
John D. Idol, the Company’s Chairman, said, ‘Hannah has been instrumental in Jimmy Choo’s growth with her instinctive vision for the brand.
‘She has done an outstanding job leading the business during a highly challenging and unprecedented time.
‘I have every faith that she will continue to lead Jimmy Choo to even greater heights. Our company has an excellent team in place and I am confident that under Hannah’s leadership the brand will continue to go from strength to strength.’
Sandra Choi, Founder and Creative Director, added: ‘Hannah and I have worked together since the start of our fashion luxury house.
‘I couldn’t be happier that she will now lead our company as we continue to grow Jimmy Choo as one of the most important British luxury brands in the world.
‘We share the same vision for the future of this brand that we both love.’
And Colman herself was quoted as saying: ‘Having been part of the Jimmy Choo team since 1996 I am thrilled to be leading such an iconic British luxury house.
‘Working alongside Sandra over the last few months as Interim CEO has been a great experience and it’s a privilege to lead such a talented team who have done an incredible job of steering the brand through the events of this year.
‘I take the responsibility of writing the next chapter of this remarkable luxury house incredibly seriously and couldn’t be more excited by the opportunity.’
Jimmy Choo now has 234 stores worldwide.