Africa News of Thursday, 16 January 2025

Source: face2faceafrica.com

Meet the British-Nigerian designer attempting to break the Guinness World Record for largest sandal

Sanya made the sandal, which is 26 feet, 8.8 inches long, and 10 feet, 4.2 inches wide Sanya made the sandal, which is 26 feet, 8.8 inches long, and 10 feet, 4.2 inches wide

A British-Nigerian fashion designer has captured the world’s attention after creating an enormous sandal. Elizabeth “Liz” Sanya made the sandal measuring 10 feet, 4.2 inches wide and 26 feet, 8.8 inches long in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest sandal.

According to UPI, the designer spent 72 hours creating the massive clog-style sandal at Pixel Park in Lekki, Lagos, in Nigeria and completed her creation on January 4.

Her shoe was submitted to Guinness World Records as the world’s largest sandal. She hopes to break the previous record, which was set by a group of craftspeople from Municipio De Sahauyo, Mexico, who made a traditional sandal that was 24 feet, 5.31 inches long and 10 feet, 1.65 inches wide in 2016.

In a statement cited by Black Enterprise, Sanya said, “I’ll never be able to put into words what any of this means to me, I started designing shoes when I was 12, and by 14, I was selling them to fund a ‘habit’ I couldn’t afford.”

Sanya has long made a name for herself in the world of footwear design. She is famous for her ‘world’s blackest Air Forces’ and the ‘Sanya Clogs.’

She previously told the Notesphere, “When I design, I tend to propose questions and then answer hypothetically. So usually, the ‘functionality’ is a byproduct once the problem is solved.”

She also declared, “I really want to be that Trojan horse and bend the rules inside out. We need people on the inside to create the change we see on the outside.”

Sanya grew up a tomboy in an African household. According to her, one thing this taught her is that “if you stay true to who you are for long enough, people will rather change for you than for them. To have vision requires belief in something that isn’t physical yet. It’s a stubbornness and pride that what you want WILL come to pass.”

Nigerian celebrities, including Aboriomoh ‘Dremo’ Raymond, Phillip ‘Pheelz’ Moses, Peace ‘P.Priime’ Oredope, and Mayowa ‘Mayorkun’ Adewale was at the Lekki location to support Sanya during her recent record-breaking attempt.

“Believing in me is free, doubting me will cost you,” she wrote after attempting her latest record.