Lagos Island: A Deep Dive into Nigeria’s Fashion Industry

Standing adjacent to a rack of detailed designed kaftans, Kola Kuddus looks like a very simple man. The personal-shopper-cum-bespoke-men’s-fashion-designer is a prominent member of a generation of designers at the heart of the renaissance of Nigeria’s fashion industry. Their designs are as visible in Paris as they are in Lagos, from brands that were inspired by, and have now begun to redefine Africanism.

Settling into a new role as the Head of Fashion & Beauty at a large e-commerce firm, my early days were spent with these designers. Yet, as time passed, it became clear that the answers to many of our commercial quandaries would not be found in the snazzy window displays on Allen Avenue, but in the corridors of Lagos’ many markets and the buzzing activity on its physical and digital highways.

Like most things in Nigeria, the aesthetic exterior of the Lagos fashion scene conceals a roughness shaped by struggle. A modern industry steered by the creative minds of a talented crop of designers is also being propped by the sweat of thousands of Lagosians littered across the value chain. These people—tailors, fabric merchants, and so on—may not feed the city its breakfast, but they put the clothes on the back of many of its 20 million residents.

Understanding the nuances of each major actor, and unravelling the opportunities and threats they face gives the best view of the likely future of fashion in Lagos. And, most excitingly, it tells a powerful story of how and why the Lagos fashion industry works.

Read the full story here.