Sir Richard Branson Rocks Sneakers Made By Ese, Nigerian Winner of the Enterprise Challenge.
Nigerian winner of the Enterprise Challenge, Ese Odiete and Creative designer of Hesey designs presented Sir Richard Branson with a pair sneakers of made out of Ankara. The presentation was made to Sir Richard during a mentoring meeting she won from an online competition that ran in Nigeria.
The sneakers were an instant hit with Sir Richard as he immediately put them on during the meeting and surprisingly, he showed up at the venue of the Virgin Atlantic new uniform launch event rocking the same sneakers on the red carpet and all through the event. While on stage with the iconic British uniform designer Vivien Westwood and some members of cabin crew, Sir Richard introduced Ese and invited her on stage showing off his new pair of sneakers.
‘’Being in the shoes of one of the greatest men in the world is everyone’s dream; and as a designer, getting to make his shoes was an even bigger dream. So when I heard that I will be meeting Sir Richard Branson I seized this opportunity to add the Hesey shoe to his collection. I wanted something that matched his fun personality so a sneaker was it. The design stayed true to the Hesey brand—African inspired as we sourced one of the finest Ankara prints. I also wanted something that will sync with the Virgin colours”, an excited and star struck Ese said.
Over 1000 young Nigerian entrepreneurs entered the competition, which was organised by Virgin Atlantic in partnership with British Council and with financial support from Zenith Bank in order to help talented young Nigerians develop their entrepreneurial skills.
In addition to their meeting with Richard Branson, the winners each received a £5000 grant, courtesy of Zenith Bank to help them develop their businesses, a fully-funded scholarship to attend a 5-day entrepreneurship foundation course at the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship in South Africa, and two return tickets to the UK.