By Neo Kolane
In his quest to fulfil his dream of owning a sneaker brand come true, artist manager Relebohile Mosola has designed a unisex label called Nalane which he is developing in collaboration with AliveShoes. One hitch though: he needs seven pre-orders for the M3,100 sneakers to get into production in the next 25 days.
AliveShoes gives talented and creative people all over the world the professional resources to design and launch a shoe line from scratch. They may use the AliveShoes platform to design their own custom shoes and launch their own professional footwear line from scratch.
Thirty-two-year old Mosola is a self-made chef, stand-up comedian, poet creator hip hop and RnB DJ and he also manages Scorpio Knight, a brand advocacy and consultancy and PR company.
He has named the sneakers ‘Nalane’ (which is Sesotho for history) in honour of his seven-year old son.
Mosola told theReporter this week that he has been toying with the idea for some time, and describes it as a Covid-19 silver lining as he put it into motion amid the restrictions that prompted him to widen his revenue sources.
“Sneakers have a cult following; a lot of people are highly dedicated and passionate about sneakers looking at the terrain of Lesotho and the weather. This label is therefore a simple and classic derby design, revisited with a stitched rubber sole and a visible logo in the padded backside. The shoe is made from genuine Italian leather and boasts natural cotton laces and metal reinforcement eyelets.
“I went to Google and searched ‘designing your own sneakers’. It gave me so many options including that of customization through Nike ID, Vans, Reebok and AliveShoes where one can design and have the opportunity to start their own shoe line.
“I checked the legitimacy of the company and decided to try my luck and apply. I did not think I would be chosen, but I made the cut. My application was accepted then the next stage was the actual designing, which saw my design getting approved,” he said.
Mosola added that he still has to pay out a certain amount of money to ‘lock in’ his design so that no one else can design the same shoe.
“I know a lot of people who buy sneakers in the country. I know people have the buying power, it is just the awkwardness of the coronavirus that’s stopping people.
“However, people say they are nice shoes and would want to have them, not only because they know me and want to support me. Even if they were designed by someone else they would still want to have them.
“I am looking at getting business people to buy the seven pairs of the sneakers so they get shipped into the country, which will make it easier for people to buy because they prefer to buy things they see.”
Mosola says designing the shoe was not difficult and coming with the colours was not difficult either, but marketing is the most problematic aspect hence price.
