His success story began with a old pair of tekkies and a pair of denim jeans
Lekau Sehoana says his story is about having a dream
POLOKWANE – Ga-Mamabolo native, Lekau Sehoana founded the footwear brand, Drip, after redesigning an old pair of ripped Adidas tekkies by using denim jeans and polyurethane.
The 31-year-old, who holds a NQF level 4 in civil engineering from Ekurhuleni West College, has been making tekkies by hand since 2003 after making a plan to try and fit in with fellow learners at school.
He made tekkies and sold them between 2003 and 2004, to provide an escape from the hardships he faced. Sehoana told Review that his family was impoverished.
“We shared a shack with my mother and my other two siblings. We use to depend on family handouts and eating at our friends’ houses. Clothes and shoes were the last thing on our list of priorities.
“Not being able to get new clothes meant I had to depend on people handing me shoes and clothes and sometimes they were bigger and I had to learn how to sew and make them wearable,” he said.
He continued to make sneakers until 2007 when he was in Gr 12.
“I then completed my studies in civil engineering, worked in construction, researched professional shoe making and finally launched Drip Footwear this year. I started with 600 pairs of pink sneakers. We sold out in six weeks and now have 1 200 pairs in various colours,” said Sehoana.
He is in the process of opening two stores in Pretoria and Johannesburg.
“My story does not start with me not having shoes and ends up with owning my own shoe brand. It is about having a dream and giving back to the community.
“Each and every pair of tekkies bought will contribute into making school shoes which we call, Drip with Education,” he said.
The tekkies are available online at www.dripsa.co.za.
