Jadeen Verme of Vermé Shoes is making footwear inclusive for all. Jadeen is a tall woman, standing 6 feet, and very early on she noticed that shoe stores wouldn’t carry her size, and if they did the shoes would be too narrow. She decided to fix that issue herself and that’s why she created Vermé Shoes, to create a shoe line that caters to bigger and wider sizes. Jadeen Verme is also a Christian content creator, and she took A Seat At The Table to talk about her faith and her inclusive shoe brand.
Why do you think your Christian content is translating to the masses?
I think that people really like authenticity, and I feel like that’s what I had to offer. I wasn’t doing anything for show. I was really just showing them like, “Hey, I’m a 19-year-old now, who you know is living for Christ. And I was in the world, and you know, y’all see me in the world, but now I’m trying to do better.” I’m trying to find sinless ways to have fun and to just live life that live a life that glorifies God.
What message do you have to women who feel overlooked by the shoe industry?
So, our slogan at Vermé Shoes is “uniquely made for the uniquely made.” And I really want women to know that, like, even though other companies have overlooked you, you know, there is a company catering to you specifically, and this is not, you know, a money grab or anything. It’s true. You know, the authenticity is from someone who has the same struggle or has had the same struggle as you and is trying to, you know, provide that comfortable space for other women to feel seen and heard and loved and just comfortable in their uniqueness. Because God didn’t make any mistakes, making you as tall as He made you, making your feet as big as they are. It’s the company’s job to cater to you.
What role do you believe confidence plays in fashion?
Confidence plays a major role in fashion. I feel like you can have, you know, on the same outfit as the next person, but your confidence is what’s going to carry you and attract people to you. Attract people to the way you wear your clothes and stuff like that.
What’s your favorite Bible story right now?
Okay, um, I would say that a story that resonates with me right now is the story of Saul or Paul, and how, you know he was out here, killing Christians, he was living a totally different life, and God really snatched him up out of that. He had that divine encounter. And I feel like, in a way, I feel like I could relate to it, not to the point where, you know, I was killing Christians or anything, but very oblivious and disconnected to, you know, what God had for me. I saw a totally different life for me than what He had in store for me. So, He really snatched me up out of my sin and created a whole different pathway than what I thought I would be on at the age of 21, of course, because I was very young.
It is Women’s History Month, did any designers inspire you?
Um, I wouldn’t say that there are any women per se that really or any designers that really motivated me to do this. I know that my mom has always been a hard-working woman, and as a young girl, I would wear the heels in her closet, do a little runway fashion show and stuff like that. But at a certain age, her shoes stopped fitting me because she wears a size nine and I wear size 11. So, I feel like that definitely played a part in me wanting to get into shoe wear and fashion.
