Before Titi Adesanya became a footwear designer, she spent six years working as a pharmacist. Yet the transition from science to stilettos was not as unlikely as it might appear: both require precision, an understanding of the body and close attention to how people feel.
Titi’s relationship with Dubai began through her brand. Titi Adesa launched at Level Shoes - Dubai’s leading luxury footwear retailer - in December 2020, introducing her work to the city’s international clientele. Dubai later became her home and the company’s base, offering a platform from which to develop her creative perspective, connect with an ambitious entrepreneurial community and build a footwear house with global aspirations.
In conversation with The Meridio, Titi discusses the influence of her heritage, African identity and Italian craftsmanship, designing for women often overlooked by the footwear industry, and why endurance matters more than immediate attention when building an emerging brand.
How did your journey lead you to the UAE?
I'm Nigerian, born in the United States and raised in Nigeria. I lived in Lagos until I was fifteen, when I moved to England to further my education. I spent the next twenty years in London, although Lagos never stopped being home. I return several times a year, and it remains the city closest to my heart.
Career-wise, I worked as a pharmacist for five years before pivoting full-time into footwear. I've always been fascinated by the transformation that comes with wearing a good pair of heels, and from a young age, it's been my dream to build a brand that captures my interpretation of that light and magic.
My soft spot for Dubai came about through the brand before it became my base. Our first retailer launch was with Level Shoes in December 2020. London was in and out of lockdown at the time, so my family and I decided to extend our stay in Dubai for a few weeks after the launch. The warmth we felt stayed with me, so when my husband's work in finance expanded from Africa into the Middle East two years ago, moving to Dubai felt like a timely opportunity for both of us and our kids.
How has Dubai shaped your creative perspective and the brand?
Living here has doubled down on the regal majesty I've long recognised. Growing up in Lagos, I watched women dress for occasions with true attention to detail. Here, I've seen and continue to see that same regal quality in Middle Eastern women: dignity and adornment styled unapologetically, which is all so familiar.
Dubai has also sharpened my understanding of luxury and restraint. My clients here are women with international mindsets who often want a unique fashion perspective. This pattern has pushed me to create even more distinctive pieces whilst retaining and deepening our aesthetic alongside our story.
Another wonderful discovery is Dubai's healthy, honest entrepreneurial community. If you're fortunate enough to have a brilliant, ambitious idea and business, the right people are here to anchor support. That standard has been exceptional for me, and it's given me an even clearer sense of what the Titi Adesa brand represents.
How does the UAE's diversity influence the way you design?
It's offered more evidence for what we were already solving for in our design process. We originally benchmarked comfort for the wider, flatter feet common among African women, and I've found a similar thread here in Dubai. We work closely with our artisans in Florence on the width, toe spring, and underfoot padding to create shoes that diverse women can feel comfortable and confident in.
Creatively, my ideas stem from my heritage, architecture, and travel. In the UAE, you're surrounded by a diverse group of minds who take pride in their cultures and express it beautifully.
How would you define luxury in the UAE today?
The woman we design for can access most things, so I'd define luxury here as more than a price tag. Our Titi Adesa woman values well-made, well-engineered, and well-intentioned pieces with a timeless sense.
For us, that means being selective, thorough, and perfecting our craft with truly experienced master artisans. It also means tapping into our cultural depth and authenticity, which has always been part of our brand DNA. In our latest ROOTED collection, for example, we have a new silhouette called Égó, which has a hardware shell inspired by the cowrie shell once used as currency across 19th-century West Africa. I wanted to honour and interpret it in my own way, and it's been well received.
We also have our Jadésola mule, which I designed with my eldest daughter, Jadésola, and which is inspired by her love of ocean waves. It's special to create from that perspective in a world that moves this quickly. Depth and intention are the real luxury.
Which product or project best represents your creative identity?
Truthfully, it's not just a project or product, but our ethos, which stems from a message my mother engraved in me: within every woman lies a diamond, unique, resilient, and imperfectly perfect. That's why we put our rose gold diamond-cut logo on the soles of every pair, and it's a message that's carried me through life's seasons. I continue to lean on it throughout the journey.
What changes have you noticed? Where are the greatest opportunities for emerging creative businesses?
The pace of change here has been extraordinary. There are more brands and more launches than ever, which means attention is easy to get and hard to keep.
The greatest opportunity is endurance: building something with enough depth that people stay.
In Dubai, word of mouth carries enormous weight, and referrals are everything. Once people believe in what you're building, they champion it. That rare level of true dialogue and community can help emerging creative brands understand the market and the right patterns, and, of course, find the right customers. More personally, I've learnt you need something real to connect to and build at scale.
What are you working on next?
Our focus is consolidation and building out our infrastructure to enjoy a closer, direct relationship with our clients through our own channels, alongside existing and new retail partners. The direct relationship is, however, paramount at this stage of our brand, as it allows us to deepen our core fit and design with our clients at the centre.
What are your ambitions for the brand?
The vision for Titi Adesa is to become a lasting house with a meaningful presence and message where it matters. Through our TA Foundation, we also support students in underserved communities in Nigeria who aspire to build careers in fashion. It's more than just shoes for me, and that's equally rewarding.
ABOUT TITI ADESANYA
Titi Adesanya is the founder and designer of Titi Adesa, a footwear house based in Dubai. Her collections are made with artisans in Florence, and her latest, ROOTED, includes the Égó silhouette, whose hardware shell draws on the cowrie shell once used as currency across 19th-century West Africa, and Onigèlè, inspired by the Nigerian head tie hand tied for special occasions. Titi Adesa launched with Level Shoes in December 2020 and is now building its own direct channels alongside existing and new retail partners. Through the TA Foundation, Titi supports students in underserved communities in Nigeria who aspire to build careers in fashion.
Born in the United States and raised in Lagos, Titi moved to England at fifteen to further her education and spent the next twenty years in London. She worked as a pharmacist for six years before moving into footwear full-time. She later relocated to Dubai, where the brand is now expanding in the Middle East.
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