The tribe in the hands

Joana Rodo just wanted to have a stylish travel bag, where all her necessary belongings could fit for a weekend at the beach. After doing some searching and not finding a bag to her liking, she decided to buy a capulana and produce her ideal travel bag – made of capulana cloth, lined with waterproof cloth, with natural leather handles and details. At that point, without realizing it, she had created the formula for a successful product. “First, I made two bags and, still on the trip, a friend saw it and asked me to sell it. The other bag I offered to another friend. Soon after, other orders came in from friends and never stopped”. Thus Tribosacks was born in 2019.

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When she became aware that the brand had already established itself and there was no stopping it, Joana assembled a super-team and structured a sustainable business. “We are a team of five, Master Calisto who is the tailor, Master Simeão who s the craftsman who works the leather, Bento and Arlinda – my right-arm in this work. We do everything by hand and buy all the materials here in Mozambique. Since the brand came about unpretentiously, part of the profits we make are donated to charities.”

Joana is Portuguese and has been in Mozambique for 10 years, she is a consultant in the area of health and fashion ends up being a hobby. If working as a bag designer is a fluke, the choice of materials is not a mere work of fate. She has always loved capulana, its colours and its patterns. “I believe that Africa as a whole has a lot to offer in terms of fashion. And we have very talented artisans here in Mozambique.”

Currently, Tribosacks’ main customers are foreigners and she sees this as an opportunity to massify the business. “Our clients are in America and, mainly, in Europe. Many place their orders through social networks. But since we don’t have the capabilities to export, we depend on having someone to carry.

Given this opportunity that the market offers, we are already looking for partnerships to have our products available in Europe. Here in Mozambique, we sell through Instagram, in pop-up fairs, and we have some products for sale in the Azurara bookstore”.

Edição 77 Jan/Fev| Download.