Shown to scale
Six faces built from leather pieces, worn at your back. The people behind you will let you know.
Which one is yours ↓
Everyone behind you will.
In the grocery line.
In the pew behind yours.
In the office you’re walking out of.
She rides at your back, facing the room you aren’t facing — and she does the talking.
A handbag hangs where you can see it. A backpack faces the other way — the checkout line behind you, the row behind yours, the door you just came through. Whoever is there gets the whole portrait, at eye height, for as long as you stand still. That is the room she talks to.
Here is what the women behind you said, in their own words.
Not on a runway. In the places you go anyway.
The grocery line. Church.
“I’ve been standing in the grocery store line and I’ve been in Church and women compliment and ask if they can touch my bag.”
— Evangeline, verified Afroyla review
The post office.
“It definitely commands all the attention when you enter a room. I walked into the post office and immediately saw heads turning.”
— Dawn J., verified Afroyla review
CVS. The Dollar Tree.
“The Sanaa Salt Pop has gotten me compliments in of all places CVS and the Dollar Tree.”
— Ashley, verified Afroyla review
An insurance office in Michigan.
“…I’ve had my bag for a while always getting compliments just got one today by my insurance agent he took all the info said he going to buy his wife one”
— Rachael Lige, Afroyla customer (Facebook)
A flight.
“I took this with me on a flight. I received so many compliments and stares I felt like a celeb.”
— Bridgette Pratt, verified Afroyla review
The hoop — its own piece, stitched at the edge.
The headwrap — several pieces in two tones, each stitched down on its own.
The continent — one tan piece under her, stitched around its outline.
Her profile — one dark piece, laid over the map.
Because she isn’t flat. From across a checkout line a print is a picture. These faces stand up off the bag and throw a small shadow — that shadow is what a stranger’s eye catches before they know why.
Every face on this page is built the same way: the afro, the wrap, the locs, the hoop, the map — each cut from its own leather, laid over the last, stitched around the edge. Run your thumb across the front when she arrives. Every edge you feel is a piece somebody cut and stitched.
How a face gets made
These are premium vegan leather, not cowhide — smooth, light, wipes clean. If you need real hide, this isn’t that. Here is what most people find when the box opens:
“…I received the vegan leather and it feels soft. I’m not even sure I would be able to tell the difference between the genuine and this one…”
— Carla Parris, verified Afroyla review
Six faces. Each one wears a crown you already know. Pick the one who rides with you.
the afro
Kora takes the whole day onto your back — brown leather, both hands free, nothing about her asking for attention.
$179.95$89.98with SUMMER26
Pre-order · ships Sep 29 – Oct 6
15 left in this batch
10.2″ × 13″ × 5.1″ · fits an iPad, notebooks and the day’s essentials
afro and cat-eye glasses
Rembo comes from the Swahili for “adornment” — and that’s the appliqué’s whole job: decoration you carry on your back.
$199.95$99.98with SUMMER26
Pre-order · ships Oct 15 – 22
10.2″ × 13″ × 5.1″ · fits an iPad, notebooks and the day’s essentials
the headwrap
Dunia is Swahili for “the world” — a fitting name for the backpack that carries yours, appliqué worked into the leather.
$199.95$99.98with SUMMER26
Pre-order · ships Oct 15 – 22
10.2″ × 13″ × 5.1″ · fits an iPad, notebooks and the day’s essentials
locs
Subira means “patience” in Swahili — a virtue stitched into an appliquéd backpack made to be carried daily and loved slowly.
$199.95$99.98with SUMMER26
Pre-order · ships Oct 15 – 22
10.2″ × 13″ × 5.1″ · fits an iPad, notebooks and the day’s essentials
locs, face forward
Tulia is the Swahili word for “be at peace.” Hands free, leather appliquéd, nothing to fuss with — calm you can wear.
$199.95$99.98with SUMMER26
Pre-order · ships Nov 5 – 12
10.2″ × 13″ × 5.1″ · fits an iPad, notebooks and the day’s essentials
the halo
Malaika means “angel” in Swahili — the one that rides on your back and watches behind you.
$199.95$99.98with SUMMER26
Pre-order · ships Oct 15 – 22
10.2″ × 13″ × 5.1″ · fits an iPad, notebooks and the day’s essentials
Vee had two crossbodies and eight wallets before the backpack called. Phyllis had six purses. It is the one they reach for last — and the one they reach for anyway.
“So far I have purchased 2 crossbody bags, 6 wallets and 2 small wallets. I am trying to resist buying more, but I think a backpack is calling me!”
— Vee, verified Afroyla review
“Yes. I have 6 purses with matching wallets and makeup cases. Today I received my backpack with matching wallet.”
— Phyllis Bradley, verified Afroyla review
“I’ve lost count of how many I own. I’m addicted! I get so many compliments everywhere I go.”
— D., verified Afroyla review
A backpack with her crown on it says it before the card does. And the first thing she’ll do is turn around and show you her back.
“I bought this for my sister. She absolutely loved it. She had been eyeballing my bookbag, so I purchased this with the matching wallet.”
— Tab, verified Afroyla review
“The back pack and wallet was a birthday gift for my sister and she loved it! Immediately put it on and modeled around the room.”
— Sonja, verified Afroyla review
“I got one for my mom, sister and both grandmas!”
— Toni-Shenell Garrick, verified Afroyla review
From Michelle
I started Afroyla for a simple reason: I got tired of seeing fashion that wasn’t made for us. So I made our own.
Each design is made as a single run in premium vegan leather. When a run sells through, there’s a gap before the next one. I’d rather make fewer pieces that mean something than shelves of things that don’t.
Read the reviews and you’ll find the same story, a thousand times over: the compliments, the heads turning, the “where did you get that?” That isn’t the leather talking. That’s a woman being seen.
And if you’re here for someone you love — a mother, a daughter, a friend — I hope she opens the box and sees herself.
Made with pride. Worn with purpose. Loved by us.
With love,
Michelle
Founder, Afroyla
“…the quality was comparable to other designer handbags that cost much more (and do not make us feel included).”
— Verdie Watkins, verified Afroyla review
$199.95 · half off with SUMMER26 — the August drop just landed and this code makes room for it.
Pre-orders follow their batch window. In-stock charms leave the warehouse within one business day. Mixed orders ship in two parcels.
When this batch is spoken for, the next Kora run ships Oct 21 – 28.
Premium vegan leather — smooth, lightweight, wipes clean. Not cowhide, and we say so.
There is no print layer on these backpacks. Every shape is its own piece of leather, stitched around its edge onto the front. Run a thumb over it — you’ll feel every edge.
10.2″ × 13″ × 5.1″. An iPad, notebooks and the day’s essentials — sized under a full laptop. Zip close, dual straps; Kora closes with a magnetic buckle.
She is 10.2″ × 13″ × 5.1″, sized under a full laptop, with a round leather portrait on the front and gold-tone hardware. Nothing about her reads as school.
In-stock charms leave the warehouse within one business day. Backpacks are pre-order: each one above shows its batch window. Delivery is 2–8 business days by the speed you choose at checkout.
Yes. SUMMER26 covers every piece in the cart, in stock or pre-order.
30 days from delivery to return or exchange, unused and in the original packaging. Return shipping is on you unless the mistake was ours.
Yes. Some people ask because they’ve never seen the owner on the page, and that’s fair. Afroyla is owned by Michelle Davis, a Black woman, and run from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Every order ships from the USA.
Kora and the five faces, half off with SUMMER26. Pick the one who rides with you.
P.S. — If you need cowhide, this isn’t it: these are premium vegan leather, made as one batch, and the next run is weeks behind this one. If you’ve already felt one — “I’m not even sure I would be able to tell the difference between the genuine and this one” — the only question left is which face. The code covers every piece in the cart.
