Gbemi Olateru Olagbegi launches ‘Gbemisoke’ shoe line

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.