Why don't we put Made in Nigeria on our clothes if they are made here? Some factories like ours do great production! What do you think the reasons are and what can be done to change things? Could it be because people will not buy the clothes if they discover it was made in Nigeria? Or do designers specifically ask for this? Or did it never occur to us?
Made by Garment Production House for naomii_bloom
Made by Garment Production House for naomii_bloom
I know we are also guilty of this. No designer we have worked for has ever requested for us not to put 'Made in Nigeria' but we have never suggested it either. It honestly never occurred to me though at a recent business consultation, we did mention it to the lady. Yes we do business consultations and strategy sessions for fashion businesses as well for a fee. You can inbox me if you are interested. And we are building her website as well. I really should begin to promote this.
But back to this, I posted this on various social media channels and wow the responses were shocking to say the least. Here is just some of the feedback I received on the question. I know there is a general perception about goods made in Nigeria but it appears the problem goes deeper than just quality.
The Nigerian fashion industry is getting stronger but we're still far from where we need to be. When it comes to production, we are only scratching the surface, the numerous challenges we're faced with such as shortage of electric power supply, devaluation of Naira and foreign exchange issues have contributed massively to this.
It is quite sad that though there is a lot of good work out there, we choose to still patronize foreign goods. Yes price is always a factor but the truth is when I used to produce clothes in China, they were not that cheap. Production will always be cheaper than trading because they are unique to us. Except you choose to produce in thousands or buy off their catalogue (which is still trading), the clothes can never be cheap!
So let's discuss... As a buyer, would you buy an item clearly stated Made in Nigeria? Why or why not?
As a designer or production house, do you put Made in Nigeria on your clothes? If you do, tell us why? If you don't, tell us why not?
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Interesting piece. I’ve actually been thinking about this in recent times and i believe it’s a matter of perspective and target audience. My take is that Nigerians are biased and probably prefer foreign brands while Nigerian brands have been rated as 2nd fiddle (though i hope this is beginning to change with the likes of Karen Ubani brand). If target audience is international, I’d recommend putting “Made in Nigeria” as it might pique global interest to the Nigerian fashion industry.
You are very right. It is a mindset thing but stems even beyond the clothing themselves to how people perceive things Made in Nigeria. And worse, they expect things made in Nigeria to be cheap because “is it not made in Nigeria” as they say.
I remember a renowned designer said once, “if a Nigerian buys a shirt abroad and the button falls off, he’ll just fix it with a needle and thread. If a Nigerian made that same shirt, he will call the person and start yelling on the phone”. It all boils down to the mindset. Foreign markets like the idea of “handmade clothing” but here they fail to realize clothes made by hand are expensive. A lot has to be done to sensitize our people to patronize our own not because it is Nigerian but because it is good quality.
Thank you so much for your comment.