In 2012 we noticed a high heel shoe from Jimmy Choo that looked strangely familiar.
The heels were a pair of black patent leather pumps, with a lethal thin 5 inch heel. They were called Anouk and we named them our pick of Jimmy Choo’s Cruise 2012 collection.
Jimmy Choo’s Anouk seemed destined to be around for ever. And yet, as we’ll cover further below, Anouk was discontinued by the label in around 2020 without any real explanation.
But let’s go back to the beginning.
Anouk was introduced to the market in the Choo Cruise 2012 collection. The shoe was produced in three colors: black (top), chilli red (above) and klein (which is the blue you see below).
The shoe retailed for $575 from Jimmy Choo but was also new to net-a-porter for £304.17 in 2012 as well.
Anouk was name for French actress Anouk Aimée, who was known as a stylish figure from the 1960s onwards, and it really seemed to complete the Choo range.
We said it was familiar because seemed to us that Anouk was Jimmy Choo’s answer to Christian Louboutin’s highly successful Pigalle. Like the Anouk, the Pigalle was also a patent leather pump with a 5 inch heel (120mm).
The pointed toe shape and revealing, low cut arch looked pretty similar too. As did the front of the shoe, designed to reveal maximum toe cleavage.
On the other hand, the thin heel of Anouk was much more like Louboutin’s “So Kate” pump than Pigalle. And So Kate was not introduced until 2013, after Anouk.
There was a very obvious difference between Anouk and Christian Louboutin’s heels though: Anouk didn’t have a red sole. Other shoes “copying” his red sole trend is of course one thing that really irritates Louboutin.
Another difference was that Anouk was £25 cheaper than Pigalle on net-a-porter (Pigalle retailed for there for £329.17 at the time Anouk was introduced).
And of course there are only so many variations of a 5 inch patent leather pump possible, so it is not surprising that the shoes had certain similarities. In fact, back in 2012 it was almost essential for a shoe label (particularly a designer one) to offer a towering 5 inch pump as a wardrobe staple.
In fall and winter 2012, Choo also make the Anouk available in fuchsia (above), turquoise and electric blue (then retailing for €395).
In 2013 the shoe evolved further with a dégradé look dominating the 2013 pre-fall collection. “Sky high style with the quintessential ANOUK pump,” the marketing thundered as a pair of Anouks moved through thin air on Choo’s YouTube channel.
By early 2013, designer Sandra Choi was reported in the Cut stating that the Anouk was Choo’s best selling design. It was named as one of Jimmy Choo’s 24:7 Icon shoes that same year.
In 2014, Choo launched a personalisation service, offering clients in some boutiques the opportunity to customise certain shoes including by adding their initials on the soles as a monogram.
Anouk was one of the four essential shoes for which this service was offered. As Racked reported, in San Francisco at least, Anouk was the most popular of the four. All this further cemented its importance in the Choo range.
Over the following years Anouk continued to be a popular shoe: it was seen on Michelle Obama, featured on the cover of Vanity Fair and was produced in an ever-evolving array of colors and materials.
The internet archive shows that Anouk was available from Jimmy Choo’s website in black, navy and nude in 2019 with a price tag of $650.
End of Jimmy Choo’s Anouk
Anouk’s final official social media appearance was on Facebook, February 5, 2020. The picture of the metallic lizard print leather Anouks was posted, with the caption that Anouk “stilettos up the glamour stakes no matter what you wear with them”.
You may wonder then why Anouk was discontinued?
There has been no announcement from Jimmy Choo, so we cannot be sure why Anouk has vanished.
At the same time Jimmy Choo’s socials were posting their gold Anouks, the pandemic was hitting. The pandemic accelerated a decline in heel wearing, but certainly didn’t mean the end of pumps. Perhaps it was a factor though.
Certainly, times have changed since Anouk was introduced. Heel heights are on a downward trend, meaning 5 inch pumps are not the essential that they were a decade ago. In fact, Jimmy Choo does not offer any pumps over 4 inches these days (100 mm).
We can’t say for sure whether Anouk will reappear or not. Nevertheless, this shoe that Jimmy Choo called one of its icons certainly made a big splash while it was about.