"Diary of a young entrepreneur"

I feel very fortunate to bring you an interview with Mr Tyler Babatunde the creative Director of Pitchersville Bespoke Shoe Company run alongside his partner and co owner Diane Joseph. As at this time Diane was unavailable but Babatunde was kind enough to take some time out of his already extremely busy schedule to sit down for an interview.
A little bit about Babatunde… Babatunde is “the be all end all” of men’s shoes. He may be too humble to admit this, but he is the authority of the dress shoe world. There are many shoe designers that follow his blog; PITCHERSVILLE BESPOKE SHOES, and some of the changes they make from season to season are most likely due to the influence that Babatunde has. Babatunde’s eye for a great looking shoe is similar to Michelangelo’s eye for art.
His creations are amazing. I have a profound admiration for the shoes he creates. The colors, the styles, the shape, everything about these shoes is simply awesome. His shoes are Goodyear welted, made of very high quality leather, and are without question on the top of my wish list.
He’s just priced in attitude, hardwork and immense creativity. One Phrase a “TOTAL ROLE MODEL”

Us: Tell us a little bit about yourself, your background, and how you decided to create the outfit PITCHERSVILLE BESPOKE SHOES.


Babatunde: My name is Kassim Tyler Babatunde, I am 30 years old and I live in Lagos Nigeria. About 3years ago while at the University, I took up tailoring and was making cloths for my colleagues and all but not until about a year ago I decided that I wanted to start my own shoe line company primarily because I was deeply rooted in the live of shoes, the arts of entrepreneurship and also in order to encourage the patronage of Nigerian made products (for more on this biography please visit his blog and read up the whole set on how be started): here For the blog "The Pitchersville Bespoke Shoe Blog" became an integral part of the goal of having the Pitchersville brand in which I use it to be a voice to the men of the world in the hopes to educate them on shoes and secrets of the shoe industry.



Us: What is elegance for you in a man? What are your influences that define your concept of elegance?

Babatunde: Elegance is being comfortable and confident in your own skin and physique and with who you are as a person. It is only after these things are realized that the clothing comes to play. I have seen elegant men wearing shabby clothing and very sharp men who were far from elegant. It’s about how you carry yourself and how you treat others.
My influences come from watching other men do elegant things, like being a gentleman, helping others, speaking profoundly and with meaning, being humble, politeness etc. Like I said, for me, elegance goes far beyond what one wears but rather is all a part of how one is.

Us: I understand that ST DAVID’S SHOES is your favorite shoemaker (locally), could you tell us why?

Babatunde: I remember vividly the day that I first saw a ST DAVIDS SHOES.I was a University of Lagos undergraduate then, the shoes actually left me in complete awe. It was something so amazingly different yet still so classically elegant, I found it totally hard to believe these are Nigerian made products. It fused so many styles into one and it just showed me what great shoemaking could be. After having modeled for so many years, I actually became friends with him and also his photography model.David showed me a lot about shoemaking and after having spent some time with him it confirmed how great his talents as an artist is. He taught me about how beauty in a shoe comes from the way in which the pattern is laid onto the last. Easily said but difficultly done and David makes it look easy. Simply put, his shoes for me define elegance in footwear through his ability to perfectly, match a pattern to a last. He is just the epitome of everything shoes in Nigeria.

Us: What experiences can you tell us about that define your style, and the style of shoes you design?

Babatunde: My style is such a conglomeration of things all wrapped up into one. For example as a youth, I lived in an urban city environment. My friends and I all used to wear the Nikes and the baggy clothes and we would match are shoes to our upper bodies, in perfect unison. If the shoes had 3 colors in them, then we had to have those same 3 colors in our tops. Then during university days and while a model, my style took a 180 degree turn, I was into pencil jeans, sags and all of that, feeling funky, stylish and involved lie I called it then but my journey and relationship with shoes started 3years ago when I had the opportunity to work with ST’Davids shoes, he showed me how luxurious one could be, merge sociality and formality together and still look very outstanding and admirable, I got love stuck with shoes after then
and abruptly stopped wearing sneakers and the likes. I always stood out amongst my friends in every event and I was perceived as more mature and the likes. That moment, I knew there was something that came with dressing in shoes and that was it for me I never looked back after then. This influenced greatly my company PITCHERSVILLE BESPOKE SHOES. I started targeting shoe patterns and designs that expressed confidence and the combination of sociality and formality. And guess what? Just like me… the range of shoes were all accepted.

Us: Why do you feel a good pair of shoes is necessary for every man?

Babatunde: Shoes are the foundation of one’s outfit and if men intend to be taken seriously then they need a pair of serious shoes. Shoes speak wonders about the person that they are on. They are often the focal point to everyone’s eyes and there is just nothing more unattractive than a horrible looking pair of shoes.
For me, it is simply a part of being an adult: wearing good shoes. Not only all of that, but a pair of good shoes makes you feel good about yourself and that confidence exuberates in your being and projects outwards, which ultimately makes you more desirable, not only sexually but professionally too. And having a pair of good shoes is one step in the right direction to being elegant…

Us: Tell us about why a good shine, especially the high gloss shine that you perform flawlessly, so important?

Babatunde: The high gloss shine is actually not important at all. If anything it is harmful to shoes in the long run as it will inevitably dry out the leather if one is not militant in re-conditioning it on a constant basis. And most people are not that militant. The high gloss shine if anything just looks damn good. But a good thorough shoe shine is important for protecting the leather. Wax shining creates a surface over the leather that in reality becomes like an invisible layer that then protects the leather from the effects of rain, dust, dirt etc…..But more importantly is the re-conditioning of leather as all of these elements and polishes actually dry the leather out and only should you replenish the nutrients that thus deteriorate from that drying out will you be able to prolong the life of your leather.

 Us: What is your favorite style of shoe and what colors?

 Babatunde: My favorite shoe style is the monk for shoes and balmoral boots for boots. When I say monk shoe though, I do not mean the old Americana ones from the 40’s-50’s. I mean the modern day dress version whereby you have a nice piece of leather that separates the vamp and the counter. It thus allows for great two tone shoes. My favorite color is blue but for shoes I really love the combination of black and red or blue and grey.

Us: What PITCHERSVILLE BESPOKE SHOES at this moment in time do you consider your favorite?

Babatunde: If you are referring to my brand, then it is my royal Antique Brown leather on glossy polished white calfskin.

Us: Of all the beautiful shoes you post and have seen, what is your “Holy Grail” of shoes, no matter the price or availability?

Babatunde: The shoe that has captivated me more than anything and thus influenced my own being and branding was the bespoke saddle shoe by Stefano Bemer. It is easily the most beautiful shoe that I have ever seen.

Us: What are your thoughts on Nigerian casual style?

Babatunde: Nigerian casual style is a very broad category so it is hard to answer that in reality. Also Nigeria is a very big place where there is not really a unified look. Casual in Lagos is immensely different than casual in Abuja. As a whole if you are asking me about Nigerian style in general, but well I think we are really doing particularly well, particularly when it comes to fit. But the only issue I have with Nigerian style is the fact that they prefer to patronize the foreign products more than ours. Partly one reason why I started PITCHERSVILLE SHOE BLOG is to educate my fellow Nigerians on the ideals of patronizing Nigerian made bespoke shoes and clothings generally.


Us: Do you have exciting new plans for the future of Pitchersville Bespoke shoes?

 Babatunde: Yes, hopefully, our world class Studio should be operational by February so people can actually walk in and purchase our readymade shoes, we would also have been able to affiliate with our shoe sole production partner in Italy thus importing our own soles with Pitchersville brand labeled on it. E commerce site should be on too in March which will hopefully be a big milestone for the brand. We will then be able to start easily reaching the men of the world with only a few clicks on the keyboard.

Us: How would someone acquire a pair f Pitchersville Bespoke shoes?

Babatunde: Until the E Commerce is launched, one can contact us at www.pitchersvillelagos.com to inquire about purchasing a pair. Or any of our social and customer care mediums or look us up on Twitter: pitchersville84, IG: Pitchersville_shoes, BBM: 24C6C1AA, 7FF920BC. 08038601083, 08057632242.

Once again I want to sincerely thank Babatunde for taking the time to be interviewed. I hope everyone who reads this enjoys it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

Be sure to check out his blog Pitchersville bespoke shoe blog for exiting write ups about shoes.

Wouldn't want to bore you more with words. Am sure pictures would speak a lot louder.