I Designed my Custom Flip Flops for only Kshs 399 !

I never thought that one day, I would be roaming the streets of Nairobi in flip flops!

But when I heard of the Patapata Ashanti collection by Bata, I simply had to go see for myself so I visited their Muindi Bingu branch where these pictures were taken. This collection which was introduced in 2015 has become such a huge success that BATA has added a new and truly unique twist to it: In most BATA shops you are now able to design your own pair of PataPata flipflops. You simply select your favourite colour of rubberized EVA sole, a matching brightly coloured strap and then crown your creation with one of the several available hand painted ceramic Kazuri beads and voila! watch the pieces being assembled in front of your eyes. All this for only Kshs 399 !

Even the story behind this unique BATA initiative is  pretty cool itself.  Kazuri, which means “small and beautiful” in Swahili, is a Kenyan workshop set up many years ago as a help center for needy single mothers who have no other source of income. It now provides employment for over 300 women. The women are trained and apply their skills to produce and hand paint these unique and beautiful beads for a wide range of accessories in addition to those that are now part of the PataPata Ashanti collection, including square, oval, or texturized circle beads in a wide range of vibrant African colours.  The beads are made with clay from the Mt. Kenya area thus giving them strong local authenticity.

These are the 2 pairs that I designed. What do you think?

I love them for the beach, indoors and outdoors and simply running errands around the home. Tweet me @silvianjoki when you design yours or simply shop online.