Fashion in Nigeria

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Nigerians usually dress casually because of the hot climate. However, both formal and traditional clothing are also worn. Many African cultures have a characteristic traditional style of dress that is important to their heritage.{{Cite journal|last=Victoria|first=Rovine|date=2010|title=Fashion in African Dress|url=https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.mimas.calstatela.edu/products/berg-fashion-library/encyclopedia/berg-encyclopedia-of-world-dress-and-fashion-africa/fashion-in-african-dress|journal=Berg Publishers|pages=62–67|via=Berg Fashion Library}} Traditional garments worn in Nigeria include:

Yoruba men wear agbada, which is a formal attire, commonly worn as part of a three-piece set: an open-stitched full gown, a long-sleeved shirt, and sokoto (trousers fitted snugly at the ankle).{{Cite web|title=Traditional Nigerian Clothing|url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/traditional-nigerian-clothing.html|access-date=2 December 2020 |website=WorldAtlas}}

The Hausa wear Babaringa. The isiagu is a men's pullover shirt similar to a dashiki that is worn by many groups in Africa. The traditional attire of Igbo men includes an isiagu patterned with embroidered lion heads, usually worn with trousers and a traditional striped hat.

Traditional Yoruba dress uses textiles and fine beads (Iyun, Akun, Ikan, Segi, Opoto, Eri Eyin and others) to reflect social status and religious affiliation as well as personal identity and taste. Gold, Silver and other jewelry is also worn by Yoruba women.{{Cite journal |last=Abiodun |first=Rowland |date=2010 |title=Yoruba in Nigeria and Diaspora |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwo0000unse_x3q0/page/338/mode/2up?q=297 |journal=Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion: Africa |pages=297–304 |via=Bloomsbury Fashion Central}}

The Edo also traditionally express their status and identity with beads, but also with raffia work, anklets, and bangles. Edo men traditionally wear coral beads of two kinds, ekan and ivie, with either suits or traditional robes. Traditionally, they wear a white shirt contrasting with brightly striped fabric.

The Gele is a traditional Yoruba woman's head wrapping made of firm material. It may be worn as a fashionable accessory on formal occasions but can also be a daily wear. The gele is peered with Iro ati Buba, Komole dress or Asoebi dresses by Yoruba women. Edo women wear a wedding crown called an okuku.

Muslim women in northern Nigeria wear various types of veil, including the hijab, which reveal the face but cover the hair and may cover much of the body. Veiling may take fashionable forms.{{Cite journal |last=Renne |first=Elisha |date=2010 |title=Hijab Fashions in Northern Nigeria |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwo0000unse_x3q0/mode/2up?q=veil |journal=Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion: Global Perspectives |volume=Oxford: Berg |pages=24 |doi=10.2752/BEWDF/EDch10720 |isbn=9781847888594 |via=Bloomsbury Fashion Central}}

Before independence, when Nigeria was still a colony of Britain, indigenous fashion traditions such as adire indigo dyeing came to be viewed negatively. In there place Western garments became signs of power and elitism. Yoruba elites and fashion designers began to wear traditional fashion in an act of protest.{{Cite book |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv296mt94?turn_away=true |title=Creating African Fashion Histories: Politics, Museums, and Sartorial Practices |date=2022 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-06012-9 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv296mt94.8}}

As of October 2024 the apparel and footwear industry is worth approx. ₦1,177,726,700,000 trillion naira ($783,000,000 U.S. dollars).{{Cite web |title=Apparel and Footwear, Nigeria, Market Sizes |url=https://www.euromonitor.com/solutions/passport |access-date=25 April 2025 |website=Euromonitor}} The Nigerian fashion industry grew 17% between 2010 and 2019, with events such as Lagos Fashion Week helping to promote it.{{Cite web |last=Gallery |first=Tailor |date=18 November 2022 |orig-date=11 June 2019 |title=The state of Nigeria's Fashion Industry |url=https://amazingbulletin.com/ |url-status=dead |access-date=24 August 2023 |website=Tailor Gallery Store}} The Covid-19 pandemic, which moved fashion shows online, led to more attention to Lagos Fashion Week and other fashion showcases in Africa.{{cite news |last=Chibelushi |first=Wedaeli |date=2 March 2024 |title=How luxury African fashion has wowed Europe's catwalks |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68283975 |publisher=BBC News}}

File:2013 Duro Olowu ensemble, Spring-Summer 01.jpg, spring-summer 2013]]

Nigerian fashion designers often blend ethnic fashion elements with western design principles.

Shade Thomas (later Thomas-Fahm) became Nigeria's first widely recognized fashion designer. After studying fashion design in England in the 1950s, prior to Nigerian independence, she set up a shop at the Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos and a garment factory at the Yaba Industrial Estate. Specializing in simple designs using locally woven and dyed textiles, she became locally and internationally known in the 1960s and 1970s.{{Cite book |last=Denzer |first=LaRay |title=Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion |publisher=Berg |year=2010 |isbn=9781847888501 |volume=6: West Africa |location=Oxford |pages=331–336 |chapter=The Nigerian Fashion Scene |doi=10.2752/BEWDF/EDch1050 |via=Bloomsbury Fashion Central}}

Fadipe Adedamola Olaniyi is CEO of Hoodies and Stones Clothing, which promotes African culture through its products.{{cite web | url=https://tribuneonlineng.com/five-leading-clothing-brand-that-supports-african-culture/|title=Five leading clothing brand that supports African culture | date=15 March 2021|website=tribuneonline| access-date=21 June 2023 |url-status=}}{{deadlink|date=September 2023}}

Duro Olowu is a Nigerian women's wear designer with Jamaican roots who launched his own label in the 2000s.{{Cite web|last=Gachanja|first=Nelly|date=6 April 2019|title=10 Best Nigerian Fashion Designers|url=https://africa.com/top-10-nigerian-fashion-designers/|access-date=2 December 2020|website=Africa.com|language=en-US}}

Lisa Folawiyo uses traditional West African fabrics to produce modern tailored designs. She launched her label, Jewel by Lisa, in 2005. She also produces custom luxury prints and accessories, such as jewelry and purses. Line J Label, her diffusion line, showcases urban fashion with Afropop influences.{{Cite web|title=Lisa Folawiyo|url=https://hautefashionafrica.com/designer/lisa-folawiyo/|access-date=2 December 2020|website=Haute Fashion Africa}}

Philip Ojire launched his urban fashion label Freak Vault Clothing, formerly Shirt Freak, in 2017.{{cite web | url=https://guardian.ng/saturday-magazine/top-5-nigerian-based-urban-fashion-brand/| title=Top 5 Nigerian-based urban fashion brand| date=10 December 2021|website=Guardian |location=Nigeria| access-date=24 August 2023}}{{cite news | url=https://amazingbulletin.com/| title=Mercy Johnson, Juliet Ibrahim, Iyabo Ojo leads Philip Ojire's Shirt freak 2021 summer shirt dress collections| date=1 June 2021|website=New Telegraph| access-date=16 May 2023}}

Omotoso Oluwabukunmi runs TWIF Clothing;{{cite web | url=https://punchng.com/helping-people-look-good-makes-me-happy-omotoso/| title=Helping people look good makes me happy – Omotoso| date=19 July 2020|website=Punch |location=Nigeria|type=interview | access-date=16 May 2023}} the name is an acronym of The Way It Fits. Launched in 2012, the company produces branded apparel for businesses and other organizations, as well as own-brand menswear including shirts, pants, suits, and native attire.{{cite web | url=https://tribuneonlineng.com/mike-edwards-wins-the-2020-amvca-for-best-dressed-wearing-twif-clothing/| title=Mike Edwards wins the 2020 AMVCA for best dressed wearing tWIF Clothing| date=1 June 2021|website=tribuneonline| access-date=16 May 2023}}{{cite web | url=https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2020/03/02/omotoso-oluwabukunmis-twif-clothing-line-wardrobe-davidos-musical-video/| title=Omotoso Oluwabukunmi's TWIF Clothing Line Wardrobe Davido's Musical Video| date=1 May 2020|website=This Day| access-date=16 May 2023}}

Kenneth Ize, a menswear designer who grew up in Austria,{{cite magazine |first=Joelle |last=Diderich |url=https://wwd.com/fashion-news/designer-luxury/with-his-label-on-pause-fashion-designer-kenneth-ize-plots-his-next-move-1235460117/ |title=With His Label on Hiatus, Kenneth Ize Plots His Next Move |magazine=WWD |date=4 January 2023 |access-date=3 March 2024 }} won the Fashion Focus prize and was one of the first Nigerian designers to have his clothes sold at Browns in London.

Tolu Coker is a British designer, her fashion designs draw inspiration from her Yoruba heritage.{{cite magazine |first=Ezreen |last=Benissan |url=https://www.voguebusiness.com/fashion/meet-london-designer-tolu-coker-newgens-new-star-fashion-week |title=Meet London designer Tolu Coker. NewGen's new star? |magazine=Vogue Business |date=18 September 2023 |access-date=3 March 2024 }}

Evans Akere is a Nigerian fashion designer{{Cite web|url=https://mbariuno.com/profiles/evans-akere/|title=About Evans Akere|access-date=2023-03-18 |website=Mbari Uno |date=10 July 2018 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web|url=https://allure.vanguardngr.com/2021/10/evans-akere-innovating-african-traditional-wear/#google_vignette|title=EVANS AKERE: INNOVATING AFRICAN TRADITIONAL WEAR|access-date=2021-10-04 |website=VANGUARD ALLURE |language=en-US}} and the founder of the luxury menswear brand called Vanskere,{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/media-50943787|title=BBC Interview With Evans Akere|access-date=2020-01-01 |website=BBC Pidgin |date=January 2020 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressreader.com/nigeria/thisday-style/20141228/281801397322216/|title=5 Minute With Evans Akere|access-date=2023-12-24 |website=Press Reader |language=en-US}} a distinguished Nigerian luxury fashion brand that specializes in ready-to-wear urban African attire.

The rich cultural diversity in Nigerian society has a huge influence on the Nigerian fashion world, with the various elements of the varying ethnic groups showcasing their unique designs and customs even in the modern-day. Nigerian fashion goes beyond the display of beautiful designs to the portrayal of cultural and symbolic importance with the incorporation of some indigenous textiles such as the adire, aso oke, and ankara prints.{{Cite web |last=Idoko |first=Nicholas |date=2023-08-26 |title=The Role of Culture in Nigerian Fashion Design Industry |url=https://professions.ng/culture-role-in-nigerian-fashion-design-industry/ |access-date=2024-04-08 |website=Professions in Nigeria |language=en-US}}

Although there have been a lot of changes in the Nigerian fashion world, there is still a retention of its unique beauty and originality. Fashion in the 1960s was characterized by women dressing in both fitted and oversized attires as well as mini skirts and dresses with simple local hairstyles and Afros. While the men wore bright-coloured shirts in different patterns and marched with tight skinny pants. The 1970s were characterized by baggy-sleeved buba worn on wrappers tied a little above the knees to the mid-thighs called Oleku for women, and men wore agbada and danshiki outfits with both gender jerry curls and permed hair.

The 1980s had women wearing maxi skirts and men oversized suits with huge permed hair. The fashion trend started to experience a significant change in the 1990s with the influence of America with miniskirts, scousers and native boubous for women. Men also had a difference in the trouser fashion with narrower hems and loosely fitted around the hip and waist region.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2021-10-03 |title=The Evolution Of Nigerian Fashion Since Independence |url=https://guardian.ng/life/the-evolution-of-nigerian-fashion-since-independence/ |access-date=2024-04-08 |website=The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News |language=en-US}} Currently, Nigerian fashion continues to change and evolve with the incorporation of traditional fabrics and bold, colourful designs to make different styles.

Nigerian streetwear has gained global recognition on the world of fashion stage, with the likes of Kenneth Ize{{Cite web |last=Odu |first=Mazzi |date=2019-07-16 |title=Kenneth Ize, the LVMH-prize finalist redefining African luxury |url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/kenneth-ize-fashion-profile/index.html |access-date=2024-04-08 |website=CNN |language=en}} being chosen as one of the finalists for the LVMH Prize for emerging fashion designers.{{Cite web |date=2023-04-30 |title=The History Of Nigerian Fashion |url=https://naijaculture.co/blogs/news/the-history-of-nigerian-fashion |access-date=2024-04-08 |website=Naija Culture |language=en}} Another prominent Nigerian designer is Amaka Osakwe, founder of the Maki Oh, whose design was worn by the then-first lady of the United States Michelle Obama.{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Sean |date=2018-08-28 |title=The evolution of Nigerian fashion |url=https://openskiesmagazine.com/the-evolution-of-nigerian-fashion/ |access-date=2024-04-08 |website=Open Skies |language=en-US}}

• Akwete Cloth
• Adire (textile art)
• Isiagu

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20220808101809/https://fadan.ng/ Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria] (archived on 8 August 2022)

{{Fashion}}

Category:Nigerian fashion

Category:Nigerian clothing