Emmanuel Eribo says people laughed at the idea of him launching sustainable footwear brand LØCI – since then, the brand has caught the eye of Hollywood A-Listers including Oprah as well as a collaboration with Nicki Minaj
A former banker says he was “laughed at” after leaving his job in the city to start a sustainable footwear brand supported by A-listers including actor Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as boasting a collection with rapper Nicki Minaj.
Emmanuel Eribo, 42, says friends doubted his ambitions while his own bosses told him not to quit his role in the front office, before he launched women’s shoe company Butterfly Twists along with his brother Frank and two university friends. After selling six millions pairs including foldable ballerina flats, Emmanuel says he sought more authenticity, and with his sibling and close childhood mates Philippe Homsy and Mark Quaradeghini, created vegan sneaker brand LØCI in 2021.
Labour MP Dawn Butler launches major Black Caucus in bid to tackle racism as ‘UK is in scary place’
Now, with Hollywood stars such as Dwayne Johnson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck wearing the kicks – the entrepreneur says he credits his mother for his success after seeing her struggle to find work before eventually building her own empire.
Speaking to the Mirror, Emmanuel said: “My mum used to walk into my office and was like, ‘wow’, and I’d be like, ‘yeah I know mum, this is kind of crazy.’
“She believed that, ‘you know what, with the will power you have, the determination you have’, maybe how I am with people or her realising I’m semi-smartish and I’m not a complete numpty – she thought, ‘you could make a good crack at this.’
“It’s not even the words she said. It’s like looking her in the face and her being like, ‘you’ve got this son.’ She got to see she was right to believe in me. That’s a big thing for me. That’s a big driver for me. I probably wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t had that support. I got to prove to her that she was right.”
Emmanuel is the oldest of three siblings, and his mum Lynda Eribo, 73, is fluent in seven languages including Russian, having studied in Moscow after leaving Nigeria to qualify as a doctor. But once she arrived in the UK, she was unable to get work and turned to selling used cars to make a living before setting up her own care home.
He said: “My mum is my OG. She is my one. She started her own business in a challenging environment for a Black woman. The stuff she had to do was not what someone who was a qualified, educated person who spoke several languages should do. But she was an immigrant and she found a way.
“She built her own empire and started her own business and she put us in good schools and she looked after us. I’ve seen her do it. I’ve seen how she’s made her life. I saw where we were and where she is today. I’ve seen that journey. I’ve lived through it. My life is better for it.”
Emmanuel, who studied psychology at Bath University and grew up in Brent, London, also credits his inspirational mother for keeping him on the right path when he could have been led astray growing up.
He said: “There’s a lot of Black families that are maybe very overprotective and we had a very overprotective mum. As a young kid growing up in that time we could have got into a lot of trouble and if you’ve got a mum who has kept you on the straight and narrow, you understand that as you grow older that I was hanging out with so and so, and that could have led me down this road and that road.
“To have someone that is putting themselves out there for you, later on that just becomes a level of friendship. We’ll talk and have real talk and be like ‘this is what’s going on.’ A lot of that comes from that entrepreneurial feel within her.
“I’ve seen from early when we were living a certain lifestyle, and I saw her come out of that and she put in the hard work, and grew a business and provided for our family. It’s something that to this moment, I’m grateful for.”
Now travelling between Los Angeles and London, signing “eye-watering” deals and meeting with Nicki Minaj, Emmanuel says that with his mum’s support, taking that leap of faith has paid off with an “amazing journey”.
He said: “My last trip to LA was like, ‘how big can we make this?’ That’s where a little Black kid from Willesden Green gets like, ‘oh my God, this is an amazing journey.
“I couldn’t have imagined that it would have caught the eyes of Leonardo DiCaprio or Nicki Minaj and they’re just a few of many. We’ve been fortunate to have an amazing following from Oprah. That’s exciting.”
Sustainability remains at the heart of the brand, which he says has forced them to innovate and do things differently.
Sustainability remains at the heart of the brand, something he says has forced them to innovate and do things differently. Emmanuel said: “The materials we source were a big thing in our previous business as well. Leather is a massive commodity. Saying you can’t use something that harms animals forces you to innovate to find what are the best alternatives to everything.
“Taking recycled, biodegradable, repurposed materials, combining it with amazing story telling – it was just a way of doing things differently and that’s the story that we built LØCI around.”
Now with the days of banking firmly behind him, Emmanuel says he’ll never wear a suit and shoes again as he prefers to wear sneakers. He adds that it was important to be true to himself and that people have to “drown out the doubt” and follow their dreams.
The CEO said: “Every day I sat [in my banking job] with my shoes shined and tailor made suit at the end of a desk doing some work because society told me that this was great. But that wasn’t me doing it for me.
“You have to drown out the doubt because those people who doubt you often doubt themselves, and so it’s one of those things where they don’t actually wish you bad but maybe they’re afraid for themselves.”
