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The stock was exhausted within six hours. This Sunday in March, all the sizes of the long floral dress “Yendo” from the Cameroonian brand Lakelle, literally came out. On the label’s Instagram page, the regrets of customers who arrived too late were heard. ” How did I miss it Chriskanel laments. ” I am size M and I want it », Pleads Nella.
The phenomenon has been a classic since the launch of Lakelle in 2017. The brand continues to gain followers in Cameroon and seduces even beyond the borders. From France, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Gabon, orders flow in with the release of each new dress, skirt and jumpsuit. Their prices vary on average between 4,000 and 18,000 CFA francs (6 to 27 euros) per piece.
” It’s chic, trendy, simple, accessible and affordable », Welcomes Sharon Welang, the co-founder, who receives in her office located in the showroom of the brand in Bonanjo, administrative district of Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon.
It all started in 2008. Back in Cameroon after studying finance and entrepreneurship in the United States, Sharon works for a mobile phone company. But the young woman struggles to find suitable clothes to go to work. She who had her habits at Zara and H&M must look elsewhere, these two brands having no store in Cameroon.
A nod to the series “Santa Barbara”
Sharon regularly goes to the Nkolouloun market in Douala, where she buys second-hand thrift stores sometimes costing double the price of what she spent on clothing in the United States.
While talking with her little sister Viola, based in Maryland (United States) and also passionate about fashion, the idea came to them to open a franchise of these brands in their native country. Without asking any questions about the financial costs and the logistical feasibility of such a project, the two sisters wrote to the H&M group.
” They politely replied that they had no representative in Africa and that it was not yet the time », Remembers, hilariously, Sharon. “Why not create our own brand », Then launched him at the time Viola Welang, hardly affected by this refusal. The project was born.
The name is quickly found: it will be Lakelle, a nod to the character of Kelly, from the American series Santa barbara, broadcast on CRTV, the national television. Soaps that the two women loved to watch when they were little, in Buea, in the South-West, one of Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions.
More than 10,000 pieces sold in four years
The time for reflection will be long because Sharon has just left her post for another and is sailing between Cameroon and South Africa. ” You cannot start a business in Cameroon without being present. I had to find the moment when I had to be more stable », She specifies.
From 2015, Sharon traveled less, moved to Douala, took French lessons, learned about fashion. In Maryland, Viola spends months trying to better understand the world of glitter and Zara’s secrets. In 2017, trials began with the seamstresses and the design of the website on which the models are now sold. This is followed by the first clothes on display in a shop in Douala. Customers love it right away. Since then, the two sisters have been inspired by the latest trends in the fashion world and design the models themselves, before sending them to the workshop.
In four years, more than 10,000 pieces made with cotton, sequin, chiffon or lace have been sold for a turnover of 6 million CFA francs (some 9,000 euros) on average per month. Lakelle employs twenty-six full-time and seven part-time people, including models and a photographer.
In the clothing workshop located a few kilometers from the showroom, Ivoline Rinyu walks between the fourteen sewing and overcasting machines. She was the first seamstress retained at the end of the test phase and in three years she has refined her style. Today in charge of the workshop, she dreams of seeing ” Lakelle develop and be worn by all Cameroonians “.
Men’s and children’s collections
An ambition shared by Sharon and Viola Waleng who launched the men’s and children’s collections in 2020. The two sisters see their brand as ” the Zara of Africa, affordable and with our peculiarities ”. But they still have challenges to overcome. The main ? Availability of fabrics. Lakelle gets supplies from the Congo market, in Douala, from traders who get their supplies in Nigeria from traders who have themselves gone to China or North Korea. At the end of the chain, Viola and Sharon do not always have access to quality and quantity. Hence limited stocks, between 50 and 200 pieces per model.
In order to go directly to the source in China, they plan to raise 50 million CFA francs this year. This sum should also enable them to buy new machines and accessories in order to meet demand, to open a second premises in Douala and to facilitate sales in other countries.
” At first, many did not believe in us. Today, with our employees, we have such a great vision. We are only 5% of what we want to achieve “Enthuses Viola, who intends to return to Cameroon like her sister. In the long term, they plan to build a manufacturing plant in Douala and to launch into the production of accessories and beauty products. Then, why not, to open Lakelle franchises across Africa and even around the world.