Anima Iris rewrites luxury's rules with African craftsmanship
When banks said no to Wilglory Tanjong, she built a $2.5 million handbag empire anyway—and caught Beyoncé's attention.
Wilglory Tanjong had millions in transactions flowing through her business account. The loan officer didn’t care. Despite her meticulous preparation—profit statements, growth projections, customer testimonials—a major bank’s answer was two letters long: No.
This wasn’t a startup pitch or a risky venture proposal. Anima Iris was already a profitable luxury handbag company with proven demand, founded by a Princeton graduate who’d walked away from a cushy corporate job in operations to build something that mattered. The same bank that processed her customer payments, that watched money flow through her accounts daily, wouldn’t extend her a line of credit.
“The difficulty Black business owners face working with old and outdated financial institutions truly hinders the growth of small companies that are doing well but can be doing even better with that influx of cash,” Wilglory says. The denied application stung deeper than just lost funding—it reflected the challenges many Black entrepreneurs face when trying to access capital.
The luxury fashion industry, in particular, has been an exclusive, rarified space for centuries. The same heritage brands have always defined what luxury looked like, felt like, and cost.
“The luxury fashion space has long been dominated by European brands, and introducing an African luxury handbag brand came with the challenge of shifting perceptions,” Wilglory says. “Many consumers weren’t familiar with the idea of handcrafted luxury goods from Africa.”
But Wilglory had seen something others missed. During a trip to Senegal to document young African entrepreneurs for her YouTube series, she discovered artisans creating vibrant handbags using techniques passed down through generations. These weren’t tourist souvenirs—this was craftsmanship that could stand alongside anything coming out of Milan or Paris.
“Anima Iris came to me, fashion found me,” she says. “When you are destined to do something, your purpose will find you.”
With $5,000 of her savings—money that represented years of corporate paychecks she’d never see again—Wilglory launched Anima Iris in February 2020. The timing seemed catastrophic. A global pandemic would soon bring retail to a grinding halt. Luxury spending would plummet. Yet her direct-to-consumer model and authentic storytelling found an audience hungry for something different.
Through social media, she didn’t just sell handbags—she sold a narrative. Behind-the-scenes content showed Senegalese artisans at work. She shared the meaning behind each colorful design, the cultural heritage woven into every stitch. Her followers began calling themselves “Irises,” a community bound by more than transactions.
But growth requires capital. As demand exploded, Wilglory needed inventory, needed to scale production, needed to seize opportunities. When traditional banks turned her down, Wilglory eventually found alternative financing through Shopify Capital that allowed her to keep expanding. This is the exhausting reality for entrepreneurs shut out of traditional systems: every single resource requires twice the effort. Over and over again, she had to be an expert in creative problem-solving and find a path around every closed door.
Then came the paparazzi snap that changed everything.
In the middle of the night, while on another sourcing trip to Senegal, Wilglory’s phone lit up like Times Square. Instagram was going wild. Her follower count climbed so rapidly the numbers blurred. Beyoncé—global icon, culture setter, the woman whose approval could transform careers—had posted a photo wearing an Anima Iris bag.
Orders flooded in so fast her team could barely keep up. Within hours, they’d processed $23,000 in sales. The woman denied a business loan was now racing to fulfill orders because Beyoncé Knowles-Carter had chosen her bag.
“By the time Beyoncé put on my bag, it was like, you could not tell me nothing. Nobody’s rejection is going [to affect me],” said Wilglory in an earlier interview.
This was validation on a global stage. The luxury establishment that had ignored African craftsmanship for centuries now had to reckon with its presence on one of the world’s most photographed women.
Within five years of that initial $5,000 investment, Anima Iris had generated over $2.5 million in revenue. She did this without venture capital and without traditional bank support. Just organic growth, strategic use of financing, and products that spoke to women tired of the same old luxury narrative.
“I always felt like I had so much more to contribute to this world. And if you feel like you have a calling, which we all do, we all have a purpose in this life, then you have to pursue that.”
Today, shoppers at Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bloomingdale’s find Anima Iris handbags displayed alongside heritage luxury brands. The retailers that define American luxury embraced what the bank couldn’t see.
Wilglory created something beyond a handbag company. The major banks couldn’t see it. The luxury establishment didn’t expect it. But Wilglory proved that when institutions fail to recognize your vision, the only validation you need is your own—and the customers who’ve been waiting for exactly what you’re building.
Wilglory Tanjong is the founder and CEO of Anima Iris, a luxury handbag brand that celebrates African craftsmanship through artisan-made leather goods from Senegal. Her designs have been worn by Beyoncé and featured in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Essence. Follow her journey at @anima.iris and @wilgloryy on Instagram.