Nigerian owned leather goods brand, ‘Owudu’ launches, targets 50% market share

Owudu Leather Goods Limited, a made in Nigeria premium leather brand was launched today.

Owudu which is a subsidiary of I’s Age Limited comes with a five-year comprehensive warranty and is targeting 50 percent of the leather goods market in 10 years.

Speaking on the brand, Okeisolobrugwe Clifford Ikpikpini, CEO, I’s Age Limited, told BusinessDay that Owudu is starting with full-grain cowhide briefcases, the first to be made in Nigeria according to their research. The starting bid price for the briefcase is N40,000. Ikpikpini says that in due time, Owudu will expand to other leather products.

Ikpikpini disclosed that the majority of Owudu’s production elements are locally sourced, as it gets its full-grain cowhide from an awesome tannery in Kano.

The CEO of I’s Age Limited who revealed that the word ‘Owudu’ is an Okpe word meaning stubborn, strong-headed, resilient and persistent was deliberately chosen, indicating that the brand is meant to be one that will last for generations, no matter the weather.

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He further disclosed that it takes the company two weeks after placing an order for the leather to be ready, as a majority of its materials are sourced locally. The goal of Owudu is to be a prestigious global leather goods brand that places Nigeria on the map positively like Ngozi Okonjo Iweala. And as a consequence increase the value of the naira, create local jobs and finally empower local businesses, that is companies and individuals from the brand sources production materials from.

He hinted that Owudu which sells via auction exclusively on LxLf Limited, (www.lx-lf.com), is said to be targeting anyone that needs a reliable leather product that is value for money, be it a student, a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, a businessperson, a dad, a mom, an entrepreneur, a staff, or anyone else.

He stressed that as long as people need a reliable leather brand that offers value for money, Owudu is the product to buy.

“With LxLf Limited being a strictly authentic brand retailer of brands we have retail agreements with, we sought to increase our retail portfolio to give both our present and future customers value for money shopping, as such we acknowledged that quality leather product is something many people need and after surveying the legitimate authentic brands sold in Nigeria by both foreign and indigenous brands, we noticed that they were both overpriced and also made of low-grade leather.

“For clarity, there are five grades of leather, these are full grain, top grain, genuine, split-grain, and bonded leather. In our survey we never encountered any legitimate leather brand sold in Nigeria that was made from full-grain, the majority were made from genuine leather and only a handful made from top-grain, as such we decided to build our own brand from the best of the best of all materials so we can give LxLf Limited customers a leather goods brand that’s premium and also value for money,” Ikpikpini explained.

He assured that Owudu is more than a brand, he said it’s a legacy, a legacy people will get to know about when they buy an Owudu as the journey to Owudu is included in each purchase of an Owudu.