Shoe masters: The founders of SHOEBIBLE are passionate about shoe care

Dian Maya Puspita Sari has a passion for shoes.

Having worked for four years for Nike, the 28-year-old'€™s new endeavor approaches shoe-loving from a different side '€” this time it'€™s about making sure great-looking shoes continue to look great.

Though her first foray into the creative industry was through the culture-focused website Geeksbible, Dian now focuses all her days on her new entrepreneurship.

SHOEBIBLE '€” all uppercase '€” is a service that provides premium shoe care with the aim of preserving their shine and value even after continual wear.

There is a SHOEBIBLE shop at the hipster-centric Pasar Santa, a center of similarly off-kilter businesses in South Jakarta.

While the basic idea may sound like a glorified version of regular shoe-cleaning services '€” available at many city corners '€” Dian promises something far-more thorough.

Her business looks to a similar concept in the US, where specialized detergents are used to not just clean shoes, but refurnish them into appearing completely new.

As such, Dian said SHOEBIBLE utilizes imported detergents and bacterial-ridding dryers to conduct its service '€” including their most popular one: Detailing Process, which, as its name suggests, is all about taking care of every little corner of the shoe. They also sell SWIPES, which are special tissues for instant cleaning. Whether there are notable differences is something worth individually investigating.

Dian arrived at the idea of giving shoes a new lease on life during a work trip to Penang in Malaysia, where employees were encouraged to bring along their favorite pair of Nikes in order to walk through '€” literally '€” surprise activities that often followed such meetings.

Rather unfortunately, Dian chose to bring along one of her limited edition pair, which was hardly a fit for the trekking activity that ended up being that year'€™s surprise.

Muddy and hardly looking like a limited-edition collector'€™s item, Dian'€™s shoes were effectively ruined, prompting one of her counterparts to say, '€œYour shoes now have no value, right?'€

Sad at the thought that one of her favorite pairs had lost its aesthetic grace, Dian returned home with the sole purpose of finding out how she could reclaim her Nikes'€™ glory days, when they were fine-looking and a proud product to put on and walk in.

So she ordered a shoe-special detergent from the internet from the US and realized that this problem was not hers alone: There were others just like her with dirty shoe issues.

Seeing how they worked better-than-expected, Dian began ordering more and more of the specialized detergent and started tinkering with the idea that there might be an opportunity there behind this shoe cleaning business.

Starting off with her friends, Dian saw how many of them wanted her to help them with their dirty sneakers and sports footwear.

The increasing number of shoe-obsessives and collectors were multiplying, and many of these were people who didn'€™t necessarily wear their prized possessions (old collectibles and retro, limited edition pairs) but needed someone who could maintain their looks.

'€œQuickly enough, my desk turned into an airport for dirty shoes, often with unclear ownership '€” And I spent my days shouting '€˜Whose shoes are these?'€™,'€ Dian jokes. It was clear that there was more than enough interest here to take SHOEBIBLE seriously.

What SHOEBIBLE wants to offer is, Dian explains, an alternative to the quick-cleaning services that come in groups with laundry services '€” meaning, they are not run by people with specialized skills or a passion for shoes.

For Dian, being trusted with people'€™s shoes is an intimate business that involves a good amount of trust.

'€œOftentimes, shoes have more history (with their owners) than clothes. There are stories behind them. They have become a part of their owners.'€

'€” Photos Courtesy of SHOEBIBLE

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