{"id":12482,"date":"2026-03-13T13:39:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T12:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/mad-house-the-malagasy-couture-basket\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T15:52:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:52:44","slug":"mad-house-the-malagasy-couture-basket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/mad-house-the-malagasy-couture-basket\/","title":{"rendered":"Mad House, the Malagasy Haute Couture basket"},"content":{"rendered":"<hr>\n<p><iframe id=\"ausha-kSs6\" style=\"border: none; width: 100%; height: 220px;\" src=\"https:\/\/player.ausha.co\/?showId=qxYJmIJ4O3gr&amp;color=%23000000&amp;multishow=false&amp;playlist=false&amp;dark=false&amp;t=0&amp;podcastId=gkwmahGjx9vl&amp;v=3&amp;playerId=ausha-kSs6\" name=\"Ausha Podcast Player\" height=\"220\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><script src=\"https:\/\/player.ausha.co\/ausha-player.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"3\">From the demands of Place Vend\u00f4me to the crochet workshops of Antananarivo, Mad House co-founder Laetitia Joly is redefining the contours of raffia accessories. Between ancestral craftsmanship, a modern business model and technological daring, meet an entrepreneur who takes Madagascar far beyond the clich\u00e9s. <\/p>\n<h3 data-path-to-node=\"4\">The eye of luxury, the heart of Madagascar<\/h3>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"5\">Nothing predestined <b data-path-to-node=\"5\" data-index-in-node=\"21\">Laetitia Joly<\/b>, a former member of the prestigious Van Cleef &amp; Arpels fashion house, to become the ambassador of Madagascan raffia. And yet, after ten years in luxury marketing between Paris and Hong Kong, it was on the &#8220;Big Island&#8221; that something clicked. <\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6\">Expatriated to Madagascar, she discovered an infinitely rich raw material and a manual skill handed down from generation to generation: crochet. But she also saw a missed opportunity: <i data-path-to-node=\"6\" data-index-in-node=\"210\">&#8220;I saw European brands developing their bags here without necessarily promoting the history of the place or the DNA of Madagascar,&#8221;<\/i> she confides to Ramata Diallo. With her two partners, Jessica and Diane, she decided to create <b data-path-to-node=\"6\" data-index-in-node=\"453\">Mad House,<\/b> a name that pays homage to Madagascar) and a promise of creative audacity.  <\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12473\" src=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/6-1.jpg\" alt=\"Mad House  \" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/6-1.jpg 819w, https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/6-1-480x600.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 819px, 100vw\" \/><\/p>\n<h3 data-path-to-node=\"7\">The challenge of desirability<\/h3>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"8\">In the <i data-path-to-node=\"8\" data-index-in-node=\"19\">Made in Africa<\/i> sector, the trap of purely humanitarian rhetoric is a common one. Mad House takes the opposite approach. Here, we don&#8217;t sell &#8220;to help&#8221;, we sell because it&#8217;s beautiful. The brand is aimed at active women, entrepreneurs and mothers, looking for a practical yet sophisticated bag.   <\/p>\n<blockquote data-path-to-node=\"9\">\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9,0\">&#8220;We didn&#8217;t want there to be any empathy with our brand. We wanted the customer to say to herself, &#8216;I want this bag because it&#8217;s sublime&#8217;, not to do a good deed.&#8221; &#8211; Laetitia Joly.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"10\">This is reflected in finishes worthy of the finest leatherworkers: meticulous lining, intricate embroidery and leather details. The result? A &#8220;Premium Plus&#8221; positioning that seduces even Madagascar&#8217;s own residents, who are experts in the field. A consecration for the founding trio.   <\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"10\">The price of a Mad House piece ranges from <b data-path-to-node=\"19\" data-index-in-node=\"56\">\u20ac140<\/b> for a clutch bag to over <b data-path-to-node=\"19\" data-index-in-node=\"90\">\u20ac700<\/b> for the most richly embroidered models. A fair price that reflects weeks of manual labor and a fierce desire to showcase Malagasy craftsmanship at its true value. <\/p>\n<h3 data-path-to-node=\"11\">A hybrid, agile organization<\/h3>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"12\">Mad House is also a reflection of modern entrepreneurship. With a team split between Marseille, Madagascar and Canada, the brand juggles time zones. <\/p>\n<ul data-path-to-node=\"13\">\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"13,0,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"13,0,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Local production:<\/b> Our heart beats in Madagascar, where Jessica supervises our partner workshops, guaranteeing work ethics and impeccable quality.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"13,1,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"13,1,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Nomadic marketing:<\/b> In Marseille, Laetitia manages communications and distribution, bridging the gap between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"14\">This agility extends to their content strategy. To compensate for the colossal marketing budgets of the luxury giants, Laetitia trained herself in<b data-path-to-node=\"14\" data-index-in-node=\"156\">Artificial Intelligence<\/b>. By generating certain campaign visuals via AI, the brand masters its art direction with surgical precision, while remaining eco-responsible and thrifty with logistics.  <\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"14\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12469\" src=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/7.jpg\" alt=\"Mad House basket  \" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/7.jpg 819w, https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/7-480x600.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 819px, 100vw\" \/><\/p>\n<h3 data-path-to-node=\"15\">Travel as the only horizon<\/h3>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"16\">Today, Mad House doesn&#8217;t just sell bags; it sells a travel experience. Present in Saint-Tropez, Saint-Jean-de-Luz and luxury hotels such as the Miavana in Madagascar, the brand targets places where customers take the time to live. <\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"17\">The future? It&#8217;s written in rarity and exclusivity. Far from mass production, Mad House continues to cultivate its identity as a &#8220;basket that travels&#8221;, with the ambition of becoming a must-have in sunny lands.  <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"19\">Read also<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-path-to-node=\"19\"><a href=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/andrianina-randriamifidimanana-co-founder-of-pok-pok\/\">Andrianina Randriamifidimanana, co-founder of Pok Pok<\/a><\/li>\n<li data-path-to-node=\"19\"><a href=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/how-did-jessica-solomon-found-the-seconde-main-brand-in-madagascar\/\">How did Jessica Solomon found the Seconde Main brand in Madagascar?<\/a><\/li>\n<li data-path-to-node=\"19\"><a href=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/tana-fashion-days-madagascars-fashion-week\/\">Tana Fashion Days, Madagascar&#8217;s Fashion Week<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From luxury jewelry in Marseille to crochet workshops in Antananarivo, Laetitia Joly&#8217;s career is an ode to high standards and travel. Co-founder of Mad House, she breathes modernity into the traditional Malagasy basket, making it an object of international desire. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12478,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[135,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-news","category-podcast-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12482"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12493,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12482\/revisions\/12493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}