Lagos Fashion Week is over, but the clothes are still on our minds. We have saved the pictures, picked out our favourite looks and imagined what we would look like if we could get our hands on them. Then we see the price. For many people, a locally made designer outfit now costs more than they earn in a month. Loving the clothes is one thing but being able to buy them is another.
Made-in-Nigeria fashion is getting the attention it deserves. Designers are building their names, local craftsmanship is being celebrated and Nigerian fashion is reaching a wider audience. But as the industry grows, the prices keep climbing. And you cannot help asking: who is buying?
A designer outfit can cost hundreds of thousands of naira, sometimes millions. If you are earning a modest salary, that is not an everyday purchase. You may have to save for months, put off other expenses or simply accept that the outfit is out of reach. Even people who love local fashion are buying less often, turning to ready-to-wear or looking for cheaper alternatives.
The designers are not necessarily having an easy time either. Fabric costs money. So do labour, equipment, rent and logistics. Running a fashion business is expensive, and those costs have to show up somewhere. But customers are dealing with their own problems. Living costs keep rising, while salaries often do not. Something has to give.
Fashion Week can make a brand the talk of the town. A collection gets attention, the pictures circulate and everyone has something to say about the clothes. But what happens after the show? When a customer asks how much an outfit costs, can they actually afford it?
And who are designers making these clothes for? A small circle of wealthy clients, celebrities and collectors? Or the people who love local fashion but cannot spend an entire month’s salary on one outfit?
There is nothing wrong with luxury fashion. Designers should be paid for their skill, creativity and the work that goes into making a garment. But there should also be room for different budgets. Not everyone wants couture. Some of us simply want a well-made dress, a good shirt or a pair of trousers that will last.
Ready-to-wear and simpler designs could help. A designer does not have to compromise the quality of every piece to offer something more affordable. There could be a separate line, different fabrics or less elaborate designs. The point is to give people a way to support local fashion without having to sacrifice other important expenses.
After Lagos Fashion Week, we should be talking about more than the collections that impressed us or the designers who made headlines. Are the clothes available? Can people buy them? And who is the customer each designer has in mind?
Made-in-Nigeria fashion deserves to grow, and designers deserve to make a living from their work. But the industry needs customers who can afford to keep buying, too. If local fashion becomes something most people can only admire from a distance, then perhaps we need to ask whether the gap between the runway and the retail floor has become too wide.
