FemiHandbags is a fashionable line of luxury handbags, clutches, accessories, and other small leather products with an African influence.
The brand is created by a Nigerian self taught designer Femi Olayebi, a French graduate, translator and creative. Just after making a diaper bag for her first baby after learning how to sew. Femi Olayebi soon discovered that she was being asked to make diaper bags for friends and relatives. She then expanded on her "accidental entrepreneurship" in 1994 by founding a parent company My World of Bags, a multi-functional, ethnically-inspired, and vibrant brand of handbags manufactured from whatever she could get her hands on.
FemiHandbags offer luxury bags in a vibrant range of colors and structured silhouettes. Each design is finished with impeccable detailing, including hand-stitching, fine leather accents, and striking hardware.The handbags, which are produced in Oyo, Nigeria, are designed with a skilful mix of traditional crafting techniques and modern technology to give quality products. The use of Aso-Oke—a traditional hand-loomed cloth belonging to the Yoruba people, appears throughout each of its collection.
Each one of its bags is individually handcrafted and usually a limited edition piece, making the wearer feel very special. FemiHandbags has earned its signature through high level of craftsmanship, bold use of vibrant colour palettes, the attention given to every detail and the subtle infusion of aso-oke, (the traditional cloth of the Yorubas hand-loomed by weavers in Western Nigeria) meshed into contemporary, vintage-inspired silhouettes.
FemiHandbags has become much more than a handbag brand. It embodies the values of excellence and integrity cherished by its founder, and has become a symbol and an expression of creativity, positivity and possibilities. The brand sends out very clear messages and seeks to tell a powerful African story, change the negative narrative around ‘Made-In-Africa’ brands and shatter established stereotypes around African luxury.
The brand is notable for making impact and changing the narrative of the Nigerian leather industry. The Femi Handbags brand launched the Lagos Leather Fair as part of an endeavor to raise awareness of leather designers' work and provide a stage for them to display it. To advance the industry, the Lagos Leather Fair brings together major stakeholders in the Nigerian leather value chain. In a leather bag training conducted recently, the Lagos Leather Fair, in collaboration with the Oyo State Government and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), impacted about 150 participants with immense knowledge.
FEMI Handbags stands as a distinct luxury leather handbag line and embodies the exuberant approach to the life its founder leads.