Pikolinos, the Spanish footwear brand, celebrated the sixth year of the Maasai Project, on Saturday at Harry’s Shoes in New York City. The project is a design collaboration with the East African tribe. Maasai tribal chief Kikanae Ole Pere (William, is his Western name) came to the U.S. to discuss the project with consumers in stores. Prior to New York, he made appearances at Belk in Birmingham, and in Philadelphia at comfort shoe retailer Benjamin Lovell.
Beading is a tradition among the Maasai. “It is very well known that the Maasai people, they decorate, and they use jewelry with beads,” said Chief William. The Pikolinos collection is constructed with glass beads traditionally used by the Maasai, which are imported from the Czech Republic. The beads are very high-quality and do not easily break or change color. Different colors have different meanings: green is the environment, white is milk, yellow is the sun, black is Africa, and blue and orange signify the rainbow.
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In order to make the shoes, pieces of leather are cut in Spain, then sent to Maasai Mara and distributed to the encampments where women can work on the shoes at their own pace, and there are no production quotas. Women are paid for piecework. “We don’t push them to make a hundred pairs a day, or we don’t give them conditions,” Chief William explained. Then the footwear in sent back to Spain where the footwear is completed and released to distribution channels.
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The Spring ’15 collection brings back the classic Nairobi sandal with a wide, beaded leather upper and a zippered back. Other highlights include the Tembo, a black sandal with a beaded ankle strap with dangling paillettes, and the Hisia, a nude ballet flat with beaded trim.
All of the proceeds from the Maasai Project support the community.