Fine Art the foundation of shoe designing - Francis Okedo

Okedo

By ADA DIKE

 The name, ‘Unlimited’ rings a bell in the midst of people who admire the craftsmanship of the highly talented-shoes-designing man whose stock in trade is the manufacturing of different foot-wears with artistic depth through assistance from locally fabricated small machines, making many wonder how he finishes his products very neatly, without traces of defects common in many locally made shoe designers products in Lagos.

 Born Francis Okedo, he operates an obscure shoe-making workshop in Ikosi-Love-All area of Ketu in Lagos.

Okedo is popular in the neighbourhood he operates in, but not many people know his original name, and they simply call him ‘Unlimited’ wherever he goes in the vicinity of his operational zone.  Despite the fact that he has no signpost that could advertise his business, people who have been familiar with his exceptional expertise in designing or repairing shoes come from far and near places to patronise him.

 According to Okedo, apart from artistic skills, he uses industrial sewing machine, shoe lass of assorted designs, scissors, electric stove, hammer, filing machine and sand paper, among others to work.

   During an interaction with Daily Newswatch, he said “Shoe designing art belongs to a branch of fashion designing, whereby one specialises in creating shoes which customers will hopefully purchase at a store or from the internet. But, before entering into the career shoe design field, an individual must know how to become a shoe designer with artistic creativity.”

   He also enlightens that: “There are some basic things a shoe designer must know how to do well as an artist to create great designs that could attract customers’ interest. To start with, you have to choose an area of shoe design you are interested in, by specialising in creating specific types of shoes such as men shoes, women's or children's shoes, safety boots, athletic shoes or sandals. Belts are also part of shoe designing.”

  Beaming further on the subject, Okedo says “You can start on your own by practicing the simple skills and qualities needed for footwear designing by drawing on plain papers, sewing synthetic leather and understanding pure leather. There are different types of leather, and you need to know the types that are suitable for the kind of design or shoe you want to make. Some leathers are very soft and somehow elastic, while others are strong and stiff.

   “But if you want to quickly acquire or update your skill in shoe making, you can register as an apprentice with a good shoe designing outfit that practically knows the art very well. Make sure you concentrate when any style is being drawn or sketched by your trainer. Some shoe designers have impressive portfolio of shoe design sketches that show artistic ability. What makes some apprentices fail to come out with neat jobs when they venture into shoe making could be traced to too much theoretical orientation without constant practical training.

    “Your ability to learn also depends not only on the high level of skills your trainer has, but your personal creative ability and tendency to observe and remember how some designs are done. This means you need a jotter or note book apart from your drawing book, to write down some vital points especially when it involves complex designs.

    “Children’s shoes are the most difficult to design and sew, because of their small size nature. Machines used for sewing children shoes are very rare in Nigeria. That is why you see that most local shoe makers don’t produce children shoes. But in most places, what you see are ‘palm-sandals’ which are the easiest footwear any averagely skilled shoe designer can make. This still depends on how neat the work could be after production.”

Commenting on the low quality of shoes produced by many local shoe designers, “Unlimited Plc” as Okedo the Anambra-born shoe expert is also popularly called, says “You can choose to stay for a long time with the shoe designer that trained you, by working for a while with him to acquire more experience before starting your own shoe designing shop. But the haste by many people to start making money quickly, does not allow them to gain the necessary skills before rushing to start their own shoe manufacturing business.”

In view of the challenges he has been facing in the business, he laments bitterly about the constant power outage in the country. “Frequent power outage has been the major challenge many shoe designers have been facing. Most shoe designers rely on generators to file their shoes. Without constant light availability, there is nothing one can do other than using generator. Shoe production business is mostly light reliant. The only time you don’t necessarily need light is when you are sketching. But light is very important to either file heels or to sew leathers especially, if you are using an electric machine,” he explained.

He also mentioned other challenges local shoe designers have been facing, as he emphasises that “The importation of very low grade shoes from Dubai and China over the years, is one other reason some big and small local Nigerian shoe-manufacturing companies collapsed. I used to receive invitation some shoe shops and manufacturers during pre-school resumption time, to produce students’ shoes in large quantity. But since the entry of Dubai and China low quality shoes into Nigeria, people started ignoring high quality locally made shoes.”

As regards his area of specialization in shoe designing, the shoe wizard otherwise called ‘Anjonu’ by Yoruba neighbours who admire his skills, does not mince words by saying “I specialise in the construction of mostly men shoes especially safety boot for industrial use, but I am not a push-over in the designing of fine sandals for both ladies, kids and men. Of course, I can also transform any spoilt shoe, be it a lady, man or kid own, to look cute for the owner to wear to any occasion. That is why I am called ‘Unlimited’ by those who know me from time, as my business name.”

 About dwindling patronage over the years and why he no longer displays any signpost for his business, he explained that since shoe designing art and production had been affected by importation of low quality shoes, he no longer has the financial ability to place a sign board outside because of the high tax rate charged for such by the Lagos State Government.

   “People that are already familiar with me over the years usually recommend me to their friends and family members; so, I am not lacking in moderate patronage. Sometime ago, I was surprised when some people called from Abuja and told me that someone directed them to me that I could repair their costly shoes that had been spoilt by some local shoe-shiners who parade themselves as shoe makers or designers,” he explained.