Nigerian Fashion Designers Should Collaborate – Ogundare

The Nigerian fashion industry is growing at an exponential rate as people, who hitherto wore foreign clothes, are now buying made in Nigeria dresses.

An event tagged “Ready2Wear (R2W)” was organized to draw attention to the Nigerian fashion industry.

Speaking press at the event, Wole Ogundare, the Managing Partner/Chief Executive Officer at Carthena Advisory, a financial and management consulting firm focused on optimising both supply and value chains, said that the R2W is an innovative concept at which many designers, whether they are selling clothes, fashion accessories, have come together to share ideas and knowledge and experiences on how they can move the Nigerian fashion industry forward.

According to him, in sharing knowledge, they will forge mutual collaborations, adding that when people go together, they go further than people who go alone.

He said: “This is a forum that provides that type of opportunity to help make people go further in their business while working as a community.”

Ogundare advised people in the fashion industry to continue to work hard and to look for ways to further grow the industry. He counseled them to “advertise the platform and attract more brands because there are many brands that have not joined the group. There is need to grow the platform; they have started very well and they can only grow bigger and better.”

On what the Nigerian designer needs to do to grow, he urged them and others in the industry, who have not joined the platform to do so, adding that that they should join the R2W to grow.

“When you join, you belong to a community of like-minded service providers, who collaborate and help each other to grow,” he stated.

According to Ogundare, the first step to globalize any of the local brands is to join the platform, collaborate, and share experiences and grow from there.

“The idea of being an R2W member leads to benefits that collaboration brings. This can be through social media – app, WhatsApp and others. This gives members an edge over others. When people come together, their voice is louder and more people listen to them. That is what R2W gives any individual designer who joins the platform,” he said.