NIERA is a leading women’s fashion footwear brand in Sri Lanka, showcasing a versatile range of chic, sophisticated, and contemporary shoes. From heels, sandals, platforms, boots, and more, they upscale any outfit to look high-end and fashionable. All their designs are entirely customisable to suit your tastes and sensibilities. Established in 2018, NIERA experienced remarkable growth over a mere three-year period, just recently celebrating an impressive 50,000 Instagram followers. However, all the credit for NIERA’s success lies with their customers, who have supported the business throughout the years due to their dedication to quality products and service.
NIERA was founded from scratch by Nimesh Helanka De Silva and Dr. Gimhanie Erandathi Wadugearachchi, who initially brought down shoes from places like Dubai and Bangkok. However, with setbacks that the country faced with the devastating Easter Attacks and subsequently the COVID-19 pandemic, Helanka and Gimhanie decided to manufacture their products here in Sri Lanka. Thus, all NIERA shoes have been 100% Sri Lankan made for the last two years. Helanka studied courses on shoemaking and designing; the footwear designs were inspired by the latest trends from the world’s fashion capitals, giving NIERA shoes a trendy, unique, and innovative look. Both co-founders are confident in the shoes they make as their designs, quality, and passion for good footwear are something that cannot be replicated. The name NIERA was derived from the names of the two co-founders – ‘NI’mesh and ‘ERA’ndathi.
NIERA’s greatest strength comes from its customer base, as Helanka highlights, “Happy customers are key to a successful business. There is no greater joy than to know that we have provided something that pleases our customers.” This is NIERA’s business philosophy. Gimhanie added, “We never go after-sales, instead we only aim to best serve our customers to meet their exact needs, which are also why all of our shoes are 100% customisable.”
While NIERA boasts a relatively small team, they all strive to ensure that all customers are properly handled, sharing this ‘customer first’ mentality. There is no better sign of NIERA’s dedication to their customers than the fact that most of their customer base is repetitive. Helanka and Gimhanie noted that many people message NIERA saying they bought shoes from them in 2018 and are still wearing them. Their shoes have also been worn by some of the top models, artists, and celebrities in Sri Lanka; a testament to their quality and style.
With NIERA’s main line of communication being through Instagram, they hit a milestone achievement recently, reaching an astounding 50,000 followers. This is also thanks to their website www.nierashoes.com/, which was launched in February this year; it is the only website in Sri Lanka where you can customise your shoes exactly to your liking. With an extensive colour palette of around 40 colours, they allow you to get the shoe you’ve always dreamed of.
NIERA also began international operations a few months back, already getting inquiries from Maldives, India, Australia, and even Europe! For their 3rd Anniversary earlier this year in May, NIERA has begun adding handbags into their product portfolio. With this venture starting to take off as well, there are only bright things to see in the future of NIERA.