Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu
Turned traditional Ethiopian shoemaking skills into a global footwear brand rooted in her neighbourhood
Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu was born in 1980 and grew up in Zenabwork, a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, known locally for a long tradition of making simple sandals from old car and truck tyres, a craft born of necessity during years of poverty and shortage rather than fashion. She studied management at Addis Ababa University while watching skilled local artisans, including members of her own family, produce durable, well made footwear that earned almost nothing because it was sold only informally and cheaply within the neighbourhood.
In 2005, with a small loan and the help of family members, she founded soleRebels, employing local artisans to make sandals and shoes using traditional techniques, recycled tyre soles and locally grown cotton and other natural materials, but designed and marketed for an international market willing to pay fair prices for the workmanship involved. She insisted on paying wages significantly above the local minimum and on keeping production rooted in the neighbourhood that had originated the craft, rather than moving to a cheaper location once the business grew.
The company faced the practical difficulties common to Ethiopian manufacturing, including unreliable power supplies, limited export infrastructure and the challenge of persuading foreign retailers to trust a brand from a country better known abroad for famine reporting than craftsmanship. Persistent trade fair visits and online sales eventually got soleRebels into stores across the world, making it one of the best known Ethiopian consumer brands internationally.
She has argued consistently that fair, well paid local manufacturing, not aid or low-wage outsourcing, offered the most dignified path out of poverty for communities like the one she grew up in.