Birmingham brand offers colourful clogs from Cameroon to the world
22/03/2017
Birmingham-based OMES explains that the sandals are made mostly from wood but can be made to look fresh and compatible with any outfit thanks to interchangeable cloths and ribbons that thread through slits in the footbed, criss-cross over the top of the foot before being tied at the lower leg. Wedge- and high-heeled versions are available.
The shoe is the creation of a shoemaker in Cameroon, Mr Nyam, who lost his business because of the rise of cheap imports from Asia and free distribution of shoes by campaign groups in the African country.
OMES co-founder Peter Gildwitz explains that a friend of his went on business to Cameroon three years ago, saw a pair of the sandals and tracked down their creator and brought his story, and his shoe design, back to the UK. Mr Nyam and his new friends then set up OMES, which has now opened a factory in Cameroon. The factory operates with lean manufacturing processes, uses locally sourced wood and 100% of its production is exported.
According to OMES, the factory also operates in keeping with fair trade principles, although it has not sought formal fairtrade accreditation. It quotes Mr Nyam as saying: “In my country, one breadwinner supports 10 people, on average. This means that when you buy one pair of OMES, you feed 11 people. This is more effective than giving money to charities that put us out of business in Africa.”
Proximity to the raw material and high levels of efficiency allow OMES to offer products that it says are competitive in price in comparison to footwear from Asia and the sandals are on offer to clients in the US and other parts of Europe without any minimum order.
The product will be available from May 1, and one retailer in Birmingham that has already decided to stock Mr Nyam’s sandals, Sims Footwear, has described the product as “great fun, very quirky and versatile”.
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