Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Stelly Tchana. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Stelly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Our purpose is to generalize a new form of modernized African fashion through unique creations. Imagined by ambitious women and then made by small local hands from high-end fabrics, each collection is the combination of elegant, trendy and bold pieces.

The values we stand for are:
Bold:
Highligting multicultural fashion is our wish! The one where all combinations are allowed, without judgment or prejudice. Dare to associate colors, patterns, styles to let freely express our multiple identity, our personality, our tastes and finally our origins.

Strong & feminime
Clain women’s right is our priority! In Africa, the fashion industry employs many women, providing them with a vital source of income daily. Nevertheless, discrimination and inequality remain major challenges that should not be overlooked.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Stelly Tchana, I am an entrepreneur and single mother of 3 amazing kids. I am born and raised in France but my parents come from Cameroon.
I have been working into the fashion industry as a buyer for about 10 years in France and Canada and I wanted to promote and make accessible the tradition of African know-how beyond its .

2002

The story begins here
Fascinated by the bright and powerful colors of the Kaba’Ngondo that her mother wore. As a child, the founder was dreaming of an Ankara fabric that could be her and which would reflect the elegant, dynamic and ambitious young woman that she would embody.

2012

The beginning of a beautiful adventure
From this wish was born PagneAtHome. Initially sold through home party selling, the idea was to share her African origins through carefully selected fabrics, prints rich in history and singular creations.

2016

Don’t give up
Didn’t expecting to stop there, her ambition was clear: to promote and make accessible the tradition of African know-how beyond its borders thanks to the modernization of emblematic pieces and online sales.

Today

A dream come true
PagneAtHome offers unique collections that have already win the heart of thousands of customers around the world! A great pride for her founder who wishes to carry on the textile industry in Africa and to generalize this ancestral know-how that she loves so much.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I chose to sell on my own website to make sure to have own identity. I am able to customize my website and to promote my brand as I want. I contracted an agency to help me build the website of my dream.

The main difficulty of this strategy is the visibility. People have to know my brand to find it or to search african clothes on google to find it.

It also allows me to learn how to do everything, be an expert in advertising, in google add… that’s also what I like about entrepreneurship, resourcefulness

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I started this brand since 2012 and despite the ups and downs I never gave up. I am now a single mother of 3 young children and I continue to work hard for my fourth baby.

By changing country, I also changed my clientele that I continue to understand day after day. This is also the beauty of entrepreneurship, the ups and downs, learning how to bounce back, question yourself and keep moving forward

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pagneathome.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pagneathome/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/waxpagne

Image Credits
credits photos: Stelly Tchana