Nigerians are as fashion conscious as you’ll ever find a people to be.
Like much of the rest of the world, we typically aren’t averse to melding old clothing styles with modern influences. But while our willingness to plug into the latest fashion trends has never been in doubt, we haven’t always had the means to don the garments that they represent – unless we could afford to do so.
Thanks to today’s
technology, that gap is being bridged. The old order, defined by class and restricted by distance, is being disrupted by innovative fashion startups. These outlets are leveraging the power of the internet, exploiting the convergence of global tastes, and driving down costs, all for the benefit of their consumers. In Nigeria, ecommerce platform Fashpa is helping to boost this revolution.
Fashpa: Making High End Fashion Accessible
Fashpa was founded in 2014. Its creator,
Honey Ogundeyi, says she set it up to close a gap in quality between what she saw elsewhere in the world, and what existed locally. In four years, Fashpa has grown to become a stable player in Nigeria’s online retail space.
The Fashpa website parades a broad range of women’s wears, with price tags to match. The array of items on display there includes a variety of dresses, jumpsuits, skirts, and trousers. The price tags to them also reflect a spectrum of options, meaning that there’s something for every buyer who’s hunting for quality, regardless of what their budget looks like.
There’s an afrocentric feel to this brand as well. Its offerings represent the marriage of global styles and proudly African designs; think adire long sleeve tops, kimonos with locally themed patterns, and frill trousers matching traditionally styled blouses. Some of the clothes are Nigerian or African, with a daring about them. On the whole, they symbolize what Ogundeyi refers to as “the everyday woman with a global outlook.”
An Authentically Nigerian Brand With A Global Focus
At the start, Fashpa was as much a retailer for international fashion brands as it was for its own locally made wares. But as customer demand data began to build up, it was revealed that buyers had a preference for more traditional fabrics and designs. So Fashpa turned fully to making and supplying their own brand, running a whole length value chain from conception to retail. Today, Fashpa presents itself as an authentically African brand that’s riding on the back of modern technology and redefining the business of fashion as it gallops along.
Although it’s primarily a brand with a focus on the Nigerian market, Fashpa does have its sights set on the rest of the world. From its base in Lagos, it takes orders online from beyond the country’s borders (as it does with orders from the home front), and delivers them through international courier services.
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This article was first published on 24th April 2018
ikenna-nwachukwu
Ikenna Nwachukwu holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He loves to look at the world through multiple lenses- economic, political, religious and philosophical- and to write about what he observes in a witty, yet reflective style.
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