TheCable

Beat FM presenter Gbemi Olateru Olagbegi on Monday announced the launch of her branded shoe line on her Instagram page.

Known as ‘Gbemisoke’, the shoe brand is a collection of flat ballerina slip-on designed for women who have a larger shoe size than the average woman and therefore have difficulties in shopping the right shoe size.

Gbemi further gave a backstory that inspired the idea for the shoe brand on her Instagram page:

When I turned 12, I refused to go shopping with mom for clothes or shoes. I went with friends or my young Aunt Lola. Clothes shopping were a breeze but shoe shopping in Lagos was very annoying and disappointing. There were lots of pretty shoes but they never had my size or they would have a size smaller.

The shoes they had in my size were usually ugly and looked like canoes. When I travelled to the U.S for school, one of the things I was extra excited about was going to the mall!

I would spend hours at the mall looking for the perfect shoes. As usual, finding clothes were easy but shoes were still tough to find.

Many times I would end up buying shoes that were a size smaller all because I liked them and they didn’t have my size. I would stuff my feet in the shoes and endure pain. At least the shoes were pretty.

When I did find shoes in my size, I would buy them in every color I could find! The hassle of finding cute shoes when you wear a U.S11 in shoes!

It was much easier in the summer because I could buy smaller sizes and get away with them because they were open toe styles or sling backs. The winter months were not funny.

When I moved back to Nigeria, I faced the shoe issue again. I would go to boutiques and see shoes that were easily $30 in the U.S (N4, 000-N4, 500 due to the dollar rate at that time) being sold here in Lagos for N20, 000!!

When I travelled for work or vacation, I took an extra suitcase for shoes. Yes! An extra suitcase! And I would hit the mall to look for all the colours available in my size and buy!

In 2012, I started buying and selling shoes for women with big feet like me. I sold those through Twitter, BBM and Facebook mostly. I knew that I would one day start my own shoe line but I had no idea how to start.

For two years, I did a lot of research, travelled a lot, spoke to lots of women and I’m happy to say Gbémisókè was born!

Everyone has a sister or a friend who has big feet. Please introduce her to Gbémisókè.

I didn’t want to have a “luxury line” because let’s be honest, only a small fraction of Nigerians can afford it. I wanted something affordable! Times are hard!

The shoes are available on online shopping websites Jumia and Konga.