About Vanessa
At 21 years old, a university student and fashion enthusiast, Vanessa Fongwa Ngwi is a young entrepreneur from Cameroon. Vanessa’s passion for fashion led her down this entrepreneurial path. With her strong critical thinking skills and open-mindedness, Vanessa co-founded Papylon, a fashion brand, with her sister who is a model. She is the CEO and sees to the day-to-day running of the business. Besides her sister, Vanessa’s greatest inspiration has come from her mother, who has always taught her, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Having come from a low-income background, Vanessa has surmounted many of the challenges that have come her way, making her a resilient and hard-working individual.
Transition into Entrepreneurship
It was her sister’s enthusiasm for modeling that fanned the flames of Vanessa’s love of fashion. Vanessa’s interaction with various designers and their work, and fabrics over the years, was the nudge that she needed to start her own fashion brand. Papylon has accentuated her love for fashion and is helping her to hone her skills in design and fashion.
Business Information
Papylon is an environmentally friendly clothing line that sells trendy, high-quality, authentic tailored clothes for women. Their target market is females between the ages of 16-30 years old. Their clothing designs are a fusion of authentic African and Western designs, making the product unique. The business’ product offering includes t-shirts, pants, cropped pullover hoodies, and office wear. The business operates on a B2B2C model where it sells its clothes to other vendors and directly to individuals, mainly in the Center and North Western regions of Cameroon. They also have a customer base in other parts of the country and are looking forward to expanding into other African countries. Papylon produces high-quality clothing at affordable prices and ensures that customers wear the clothes for longer without discarding them off. The business believes in buying less and buying better quality.
