Pokello designs shoe line

By Melissa Mpofu

One of the country’s top divas Pokello Nare is over the moon after she came up with her shoe line, Pokello Pink Bottoms.

The first batch of pigalle/pointy designer shoes was released last week with all of them being designed by her and made in Italy. The former Big Brother Africa (BBA) housemate whose love for shoes is known across Africa said she had always dreamt of having her own shoe line.

“I’m thrilled by this achievement as it is a big step for me. I’m addicted to shoes and have always wanted to make my own shoes instead of buying them from other people,” said Nare.

She said she decided to study shoe designing online with a college in Italy, where most shoes are made, so as to make her dream a reality.

“I decided to do an online course on shoe designing with a school in Italy. The one year course assisted me to understand the basics of shoe making, how to do the actual design and the logistics that come with the business.”

After completing her course, the “addicted to shoes boss” came up with her own designs which she took to Italy a few months ago. In Italy, Nare partnered with a shoe company which guided her on the designs and assisted her to manufacture them.

“I did the shoe designs but the guys in Italy perfected the designs and shoe sizes for me,” she said.

The lass who is famous for her love of bright pink lipstick included the signature eye-catching aspect on her brand of shoes.

Nare, who returned to the country from Italy last week said her shoe line was inspired by her favourite designers, Sophia Webster for her feminine and soft colours, Sergio Rossi for his seductive shapes and elegant lines and Christian Louboutin for his signature trait and dizzy heights.

“I have incorporated all those elements but paid more attention to the feet of African women who sometimes have to squeeze their wide feet into narrow made shoes without ample room for their toes to sit comfortably,” she said adding that the shoe line would be launched on December 1.

“The shoes will be available in stores in Zimbabwe with some being exported to Ghana, Nigeria and Namibia. I have already identified people who have shown interest in selling the shoes in other countries,” she said.

The first collection has 10 different colours which were named after 10 female housemates from last year’s BBA edition.

Nare said she had done so as the housemates had colours which Africa knew they loved such as herself who loved pink and BBA 8 winner Dillish Matthews who was known to love gold.

A gold shoe will be referred to as Dillish Gold, red Ria Rogue (Maria), pink Koki Pink (Koketso), mint Kessy Mint (Feza), white Cleo Ice (Cleo), nude Nude Monroe (Huddah), beige Motamma Malt (Motamma), orange Tropical Selly (Selly) and yellow AnnaBanana (Annabel).

Shoe samples have already been sent to the housemates in order for them to criticize and give her feedback.

“The first shoe samples are now ready of which the first 13 pairs were sent to the female housemates of Big Brother Africa Season 8. Who better to criticise the comfort and quality of the shoes than my girls who nominated me week in and week out,” she said, laughing.

Nare said the first collection had an emphasis on height and comfort.

“I dropped from my favourite 12 inches to 11 inches and also unlike many pigalle/pointy designs that leave toe cleavage that a lot of African women are uncomfortable with, I ensured that the frontal dimensions allowed the toes to be comfortably embedded,” she said.

The diva said she was only making shoes for women as men’s shoes were expensive to make.

“The shoes are strictly for women because it doesn’t make much business sense for me to make men’s shoes as they don’t buy them much compared to women. Men’s shoes are also expensive to make as one will need to use real leather all the way,” she said.

After she was evicted from the BBA House last year, Nare was taken to a top institution which designs shoes in South Africa —something which gave her the push to start her own shoe line. She met top shoe designers who showed her how shoes were made. Chronicle