MALIKO: CREATING ARTISANAL LUXURY SHOES FOR A GLOBAL AUDIENCE

Introduction

My second mentee on the Africa Fashion Futures Incubator (AFFI) Programme was Ebuka Omaliko , the founder and creative director of Maliko, an artisanal shoe and accessory brand out of Lagos, Nigeria. Let me share with you his entrepreneurial story as a fashion designer.

Born in Lagos, and raised in three different Nigerian cities, Ebuka credits his upbringing in various parts of Nigeria - Anambra state in the southeast with his grandmother, Abuja in central Nigeria with his parents, and attending a unity school in Lagos with students from around the country - as influences on his design. He is also inspired by his culture, by conversations, and by everyday interactions with people: see his 2020 collection inspired by sacred pythons in Idemilli culture, or his 2023 collection, The Wellness Collection inspired by healthy living.

Maliko’s Early Beginnings

Ebuka’s journey into fashion began while studying Pharmacology at the University of Lagos. He got his start interning at Lagos Fashion Week, doing that for three to four years while he learned the ropes in the Nigerian fashion space. These experiences were his fashion school, he says, where he learnt how to design for the fashion industry, from creating strong visuals to using a mood board. He found he had an interest in designing shoes, but only created designs for fun and to support himself through school. It wasn’t until 2017, when he graduated, that he decided to make it a full-time career, and Maliko was registered as a brand name in 2018.

Brand Philosophy

Maliko centres local artisans, engaging craftspeople of different talents such as crochet, wood-carving, embroidery, weaving and leatherworking, to create hand-made, one-of-a-kind, timeless pieces of footwear. The brand fuses contemporary designs with artisanal and indigenous craft to create a luxury aesthetic: pieces that are made with love and invested with labour from local artisans, with an emphasis on ethical, zero-waste production and sustainability.

Maliko customers cut across age groups 18 to 60 - sometimes older people find that Ebuka’s pieces remind them of designs from brands that are decades old. But its customers are also a niche group: art lovers who care about sustainability and value quality and unique handmade pieces, and not necessarily trending fashion. Customers come from both within Nigeria and internationally (from the US and UK), and Ebuka notes that his products are luxury pieces for Nigerian customers, and contemporary luxury for customers outside the country.?

Maliko’s Craftsmanship

The process for creating a Maliko piece is a labour of love. Production begins with Ebuka’s inspiration for a shoe design, followed by pencil sketches, identifying the colours, materials, and techniques to be used, and consultations with various artisans on bringing the design to life. Next, work begins on creating a prototype or sample. A shoe last - the mould used to create the shoe - is produced and assessed, as any corrections to the shoe shape are made at this stage. Next comes patterning, and then, based on design, the various parts of the prototype go from one artisan to the next, to apply whatever creative techniques have been selected for the piece. In this way, one shoe might go around to several different artisans - crochet artists, fabric weavers, woodcarvers, leatherworkers, embroiderers - to be created. Materials are sourced from local markets, for example, the leather used is sustainably obtained from second-hand retailers in Mushin, Lagos. The final prototype is then coupled together. Next, the sample is shot in a photo studio or curated space. A lookbook and a line sheet containing product information are created and sent to retailers, who place orders for the design. All Maliko pieces are made-to-order and available via the e-commerce store Industrie Africa or from the company’s Instagram page. Prices are determined by the cost of production, and Ebuka ensures that all contracted artisans are well-paid. Maliko has built up its network of artisans in Lagos and nearby states over the years through research, referrals, and talking to locals.

Future and Growth

As a mentee on the Africa Fashion Futures Incubator Programme, Ebuka seized the programme as an opportunity to build a better business structure. Despite having sold over 200 pieces, Maliko still operates out of Ebuka’s one-room apartment in Lagos; he runs both the creative and administrative aspects of the business. The business has only one full-time employee who couples the shoes together; all the artisans who contribute to the pieces, as well as the photographer who shoots the samples, all work and are paid on a per-job basis. When he started the brand, he says, “it was just about getting seen and getting heard”.

Now, his plans for the future of Maliko include acquiring a studio space, tracking finances, and bringing on more personnel such as a brand manager leading sales and operations, a social media manager, and a part-time bookkeeper to set up the financial management. Ebuka says he would rather be a Creative Director; the work of managing the administrative end of the business is increasingly complicated. Taking the lead on the creative aspect of the business means he would be free to travel around Nigeria, exploring new techniques and sourcing for more artisans from more distant parts of Nigeria to help bring his shoe designs to life. A studio would allow the production process to be in-house, bringing all the brand artisans in one space to work as a team so that manufacturing is more easily monitored, and so that artisans can have a conducive environment to work.

Ebuka is also enthusiastic about ensuring the well-being of the artisans he works with. Part of the appeal of growing the brand would be the opportunities Maliko could provide to train, retrain and refine artisans’ skills, and ensure that they meet global standards in producing the highest level of craftsmanship. The brand also intends to increase its research into artisanal techniques in different parts of Africa and the world. With such a structure, Maliko would be positioned to preserve the unmatched talent of the artisans it works with, provide them with lucrative jobs, and inspire budding craftspeople to imagine a future career in design for themselves.

Ebuka believes that with better marketing, his shoes can find a place on every continent. The brand has already had an impressive run, with features at South Africa Men’s Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week, London Fashion Week, Lagos Fashion Week, and ARISE Fashion Week, collaborations with designers like BLOKE, Emmy Kasbit, and Banke Kuku, and Iyanu, and a slot at the Woven Threads showcase at Lagos Fashion Week this year.

But Ebuka also looks forward to seeing his pieces on global retail platforms like Net-a-Porter, FARFETCH, Browns, Zalando, and SSense, because he believes Maliko pieces cut across country and time: “I try to contemporize it as much as possible… as long as you meet that standard of loving art, loving to explore, loving handmade products, loving sustainability. I just want everybody in every continent to be able to relate to it in one way or the other.”

Share this inspirational story with your network and shop for the latest pieces from Maliko here.

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About Parminder Vir OBE

Over a 40-year distinguished career, Parminder Vir OBE has passionately devoted her life to amplifying untold narratives and resourcing the skills and imagination of underserved communities. At the core of her mission lies an unshakable faith in the transformative potential of ideas and stories to ignite profound change. Her diverse expertise spans African entrepreneurship, an impressive portfolio as an award-winning film and television producer, and unwavering advocacy for the arts and culture.

Currently, Parminder Vir serves as the Executive Director of Wazima Health , lends her strategic insights as an Advisory Board Member of Mamamoni Limited and HelpMum Africa , and contributes as a Narrative Advisor at Mustard Venture Agency. She is also a director of ZIKORA Media & Arts African Cultural Heritage Initiative , an inspirational cultural institution for Africa.

In her prior role as CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation and Advisory Board Member, she masterminded and executed a comprehensive entrepreneurship programme, impacting over 10,000 African entrepreneurs across 54 African nations from 2014 to 2021. Her tireless commitment to championing entrepreneurship as the keystone for Africa's social and economic advancement continues to be a resounding call to action.