Discovering African designer Madeleine D’Arabie and the Deureum bag
Before I start, let me just say that this is not a sponsored post. I paid for this bag with my own money :). I decided to write this review because I really fell in love with this brand and thought it would be helpful to share my experience. Now, that that’s out of the way, let’s start.
I discovered the Deureum bag while watching a video from the YouTuber Africanista. She regularly posts awesome videos reviewing African designers’ products.
One of the bags she reviewed in one of her videos was the Deureum bag from Madeleine D’Arabie, a Senegalese Dakar-based brand. The brand was started by Madeleine Sylla, a hijabi fashion designer whose style is self-described as halal-chic.
Deureum comes from Wollof. It means five francs CFA.
When I first saw the bag I loved how iconic it was. It has the shape of the five francs CFA coin – if you’re from West Africa, you know which coin I’m talking about.
The bag comes in different colors, each more vibrant than the other. Engraved on it are: “Get your money” and “The United States of Strong Women”.
It was bold, it was unapologetic, and it was African. I just loved it!
My amazing customer experience with Madeleine D’Arabie
I started to follow Madeleine D’Arabie on Instagram – @_madeleine_sn – and fell even more in love with her brand.
For months, the Deureum bag was not available. I started to wonder if I would ever be able to put my hand on it.
So imagine my joy and surprise when they announced that the new collection was there and they were taking orders.
The instructions in the announcement were to send a WhatsApp message to their business account if you were interested to check out the new collection.
I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as WhatsApp stores – totally a new concept for me.
Anyway, I went ahead and sent Madeleine D’Arabie a message on WhatsApp telling her that I was interested in checking out the collection. I received an answer within 24 hours, with a link to the WhatsApp store.
I spent hours looking at the collection going back and forth between which bag I wanted. All the bags looked fabulous, with vibrant custom-made colors – like “black desire”, “ocean blue” or “candy pop”-, made in luxurious textured leather. Each bag is handmade and created in limited series.
They came in different sizes, with the smaller bags starting at 90,000 FCFA. My favorite one was the golden Deureum with a blue circle surrounding the coin – I can’t remember the name of the model. But, because of the budget I had fixed for myself – gotta save money for that repatriation move -, I decided to go with my second choice – the Deureum baby “Wine up”. A wonderfully crafted little beauty.
I texted Madeleine D’Arabie on WhatsApp to let her know which bag I was interested in buying. She sent me the secured payment link. Within 10 minutes, I was able to pay and received a payment confirmation for the payment platform as well as a text confirmation from the designer. The whole operation felt very secure and easy-breezy!
That happened on a Friday. On Monday, Madeleine d’Arabie sent me a text informing me that my order had been picked up by DHL and that I should receive an email from the shipping company with all the information, which I did.
Throughout the whole transaction, Madeleine d’Arabie was super responsive and super organized. I had a great customer experience.
Loving the Deurem bag
The best part of that experience was when, a week after purchasing it, I received my beautiful bag on my doorstep.
The bag came in a stylish, perfumed fabric bag – that was itself packed in a paper shopping bag, which was packed in the DHL packet. It looks even better in real life than in pictures. The leather was shiny, almost iridescent.
I was worried I would not be able to fit my cell phone in it – the bag is on the smaller side. But it fits perfectly, along with my card wallet and my little bottle of hand sanitizer. It has two pockets – front and back – and comes with a removable leather shoulder
strap.
Supporting African designers
This experience, my friends, is one of many examples of why we should support our African designers.
They’re innovative, brilliant, and resourceful. Instagram, WhatsApp, and the likes have opened new doors and given the world access to incredible designers.
If you are lucky to discover one of those amazing brands before they blow up, you may even be able to snag yourself a beautiful fashion piece for a very accessible price.
I’d love to know what other African designers have you discovered this year?
