Emmanuel Eribo made several pivots before settling on a luxury vegan sneaker and apparel brand.
Business Insider reports Eribo, a self-taught coder, had studied psychology in college but saw finance as an opportunity for growth. He was able to land a finance job after learning enough about coding and did the programming for the trading floor at HSBC. He spent eight years in the sector but wanted to pivot into entrepreneurship, although it was unclear what specific route.
“At first, I was very afraid to quit my job, but being an entrepreneur, that fear is constant, and you get comfortable with it,” he told the outlet.
Eribo considered different ideas with the help of his brother and peers. He ultimately created a ballerina shoe brand named Butterfly Twists, which prompted his official exit from finance. It paid off as the brand eventually scaled to 32 stores across 67 countries, with 1 million pairs sold annually.
However, Eribo still was not satisfied.
“On the surface, we were doing amazing, but I wasn’t in love with the business because I couldn’t really relate to it,” he said, according to Business Insider. “I was very proud of what we had achieved, but it felt like I was creating spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentations my entire time. The days of running around with sneakers in the bag and doing deals were long gone.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Eribo returned to the drawing board. In 2021, without financial support, he debuted LØCI, described as an “urban-lux vegan sneaker and apparel brand” for men and women. Eribo did not embark on the venture alone; he was joined by co-founders Philippe Homsy, Frank Eribo, and Mark Quaradeghini.
“‘Imagine if we could build another business that represented everything we believe?’ That’s when we came up with the idea for LØCI,” he explained to Business Insider.
Per a press release, it was not enough for the founders to simply bring a product to market; they wanted to be loud about creating a meaningful impact. By 2022, the company had “removed over 982,000 plastic bottles, land and ocean-bound, that are spun into a premium, durable material used in the making of the LØCI sneakers.”
Even celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicki Minaj have opened their pocketbooks to empower the company.
“I am proud to be an investor in LØCI, a brand dedicated to minimizing its environmental impact and centered around creating cruelty-free, ethical footwear,” DiCaprio said in the news release.
Minaj also became an equity stakeholder in the company. In April 2024, she launched a sneaker collection with LØCI, which led to a 3,500% boost in traffic on its website, as AFROTECH™ previously reported.
“We’re always working from multiple angles, people, and opportunities. It’s better to approach it with, ‘How can I add value to their lives?’ That’s the first thing that me and my team try to do when we meet people because everybody’s got a dream,” Eribo told Business Insider.
Growing a celebrity-backed brand does not happen overnight. However, Eribo insists that doing it the right way is what brings success.
“Building a brand takes time — you’re on a journey, and you must ride it out no matter how difficult it gets,” he told the outlet.
