On our woman crush Wednesday, we are crushing on the super talented young lady by name Haowa Bello.
Haowa Bello is the CEO of ‘’Madame Coquette’’ and ‘’Fula Farms’’ a commercial goat farm in Lekki, Lagos.
Haowa Bello is a Nigerian Camerounian. She is the daughter of a career diplomat.
Haowa graduated from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University Zaria (ABU) where she studied Bsc in Economics after which she decided to pursue her passion.
A self-proclaimed bag enthusiast with a line of luxury handbags made in Nigeria with minimal use of machinery.
She launched the company in 2008.
Haowa attended Parsons New School of Design in New York where she did an intensive course in fashion Design. She later attended Academia Riacci in Florence, Italy where she did a bag making course.
The quality of her products can be compared to high end brands in the fashion world due to the meticulous nature of which they are finished. This talented young businesswoman has expanded her label to North America, Europe and the rest of Africa.
However, even with her vast recognition, Haowa is highly committed to promoting artisan-ship and skill development in her community.
Her brand is truly a reflection of heritage and character. Haowa has been in the handbag business for eight years and her company in that time has produced over 600 handbags and has been sold in New York, Berlin and London.
She won a grant to set up the goat farm less than two years ago.
Recently Madame Coquette held an exhibition to reveal her new collection of bags titled ‘’Bringing colours Backs’’ with vibrant colour and textures.
Haowa Bello is working with local tanneries to produce customised leather to boost the leather industry in Nigeria. The desire to do this is what gave birth to Fula Farm.
Fula Farm is a commercial goat farm which is not only expected to provide healthy meat, but also supplies tanneries with a superior source of goat skin which will be processed into high quality leather.
BY MAIMUNA BAGUDU
