Every event in Nigeria is a fashion carnival

Nigeria is the Giant of Africa, owing to its large population and economy. With approximately 174 million inhabitants, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the 7th most populous country in the world. It  has one of the largest population of youth in the world, most being hardworking, adventurous, intelligent and astute. They  are enterprising, <g data-gr-id="50">skillful</g>, <g data-gr-id="38">independent minded</g>, have good fashion sense,  proud and happy. One can easily say that Nigerians are the happiest people on earth because they can never <g data-gr-id="48">loose</g> hope no matter what the situation of things around them are. It is a country that values time, where people hardly give themselves break  without grudges because everyone believes that when you work hard, you walk out of poverty and when you walk out of poverty you look glamorous to people.

<g data-gr-id="62">Fashion</g> industry in Nigeria is still struggling to stand because of designers nonchalant attitude and negligence of previous governments but individually Nigerian designers are so creative and hardworking. People want to look different and outstanding every day. Everyone wants to be the first to wear new style or be the one to introduce something new. These fashion freaks have gone beyond the shores of Africa to import ethnic wears for their traditional marriage ceremonies. Ethnic silhouettes from countries like Mongolia, India, Korea and China have been worn in Nigerian marriages but an India saree, sherwani, kurta, and lehenga have dwarfed other foreign ethnic garments. The influence of Indian culture in Nigeria wedding ceremonies cannot be underrated. 

Indian lehenga and sherwani are known for heavy and expensive hand embroidery which cannot be made in Nigeria but Nigerian designers has devised a means of using the fabrics available in the local market to make lehenga and sherwani using machine embroidery. Indian designers are yet to discover the huge ethnic couture market available in Nigeria. 

Apart from weddings, Nigerians are fashionistas. Every event in Nigeria is a fashion carnival, every Sunday church service provides <g data-gr-id="61">opportunity</g> for the civil servants, artisans and traders to showcase the contents of their wardrobes. It is difficult to differentiate between the super rich, middle class and lower class by their ways of dressing. People work hard, save money just to look good! Indian designers have a better market in Africa than Europe because Europeans do not wear ethnic garments but Africans do. African fashion fraternities are adventurous, flexible and capable. 

<g data-gr-id="59">Fashion</g> industry is a product of the modern age. Prior to the mid-19th to mid 20th century, most clothing was <g data-gr-id="64">custom-made</g>. It was handmade for individuals, either as home production or on order from dressmakers and tailors. The rise of new technologies such as the sewing machine, the rise of global capitalism and the development of the factory system of production, and the proliferation of retail outlets such as department stores – clothing had increasingly come to be mass-produced in standard sizes and sold at fixed prices. Although the fashion industry developed first in Europe and America, as of 2015 it is an international and highly globalised industry, with clothing often designed in one country, manufactured in another, and sold world-wide. For example, an Australian fashion company might source fabric in Italy and have the clothes manufactured in Vietnam, India or Bangladesh, finished in Italy, and shipped to a warehouse in the Australia for distribution to retail outlets internationally. 

The fashion industry has long been one of the largest employers in the United States and it remains the highest employer of labour in Bangladesh in this 21st century. There is hope that the fashion industry in Nigeria will get stronger in the years to come, with the determination of the new government in Nigeria to create equal and conducive atmosphere for investors to come and invest in different sectors like agriculture, textiles, automobile, power, oil & gas.  Nigeria is no longer a strange land for Indian investors, lots of Indian companies are big players in different sectors of Nigeria economy like Airtel communication, TATA motors, Honda place, Stallion Group and many others.  The Indian High Commissioner in Nigeria, Ajjampur Ghanashyam, has said that 200 Indian companies are involved in manufacturing, servicing and retail businesses in Nigeria and that 36 of them are into pharmaceutical products.