2. FASHION HISTORIES | Before There Were Fashion Houses, There Was Fashion
In the workshops of tailors and dressmakers, in markets and homes, and in the wardrobes of women and men, Nigerians were already creating distinctive expressions of style,elegance and identity. Fashion emerged through a rich relationship between makers and wearers. Skilled artisans interpreted the desires of their clients, while individuals and communities developed their own ways of combining cloth, silhouette, colour and adornment. As Nigerian society evolved, so too did its fashion. New influences were absorbed,adapted and transformed, producing styles that were at once familiar and new. The decades surrounding independence brought particularly significant changes: designers,boutiques and fashion businesses began to develop distinctive identities. Yet the modern fashion house did not replace the systems of making that preceded it. Designers continued to work within networks of tailors, textile producers, embroiderers and merchants. This is a history not only of those who designed and made clothes, but of those who wore them, commissioned them, photographed them, sold them and gave them meaning. A history of creativity, enterprise and self-expression that was already flourishing long before it acquired the names and structures of a modern fashion industry.
LIST OF WORKS
1. SHADE THOMAS-FAHM DRESS FORM
Lagos, Nigeria
Tailor’s dress form from the designer’s workroom
Shade Thomas-Fahm opened her boutique in Lagos in the first years of independence and is widely regarded as Nigeria’s first modern fashion designer, taking the iro and buba, the boubou and aso oke into ready-to-wear.
Courtesy of Shade Thomas-Fahm
2. M. O. IDOWU & SONS, THE ART OF TAILORING
Lagos, Nigeria
20th century · Portrait of M. O. Idowu, 1988; Diploma in Tailoring and Cutting, 1951; Singer sewing machine, date unconfirmed
M. O. Idowu belonged to a generation of Nigerian master tailors whose skill in cutting, fitting and garment construction helped shape modern Nigerian dress.
Awarded a diploma by London’s Tailor & Cutter Academy in 1951, Idowu was recognised for his professional expertise, later serving as president of the Master Tailors and Garment Makers Association of Nigeria, Lagos State. This portrait was presented to him by members of the association on his 80th birthday in 1988.
The Singer sewing machine, preserved by the Idowu family, represents the tools and technical discipline at the heart of bespoke tailoring. Its robust construction and enduring use speak to a period when garments were individually cut, fitted and meticulously assembled.
The family business continued through Idowu’s son, sustaining a tradition of skilled tailoring and training subsequent generations of craftsmen.
Together, these objects celebrate the Nigerian master tailor and the workshops whose craftsmanship laid important foundations for the country’s evolving fashion industry.
Courtesy of the M. O. Idowu family
3. BETTY OKUBOYEJO (BETTI-O), EARLY ADIRE DESIGN
Nigeria
Date to be confirmed · Resist-dyed cotton garment
A pioneer of innovation in Nigerian textile design, Betty Okuboyejo introduced German chemical dyes into her adire practice, expanding the colour possibilities of a tradition historically associated with indigo.
This early design, with its vibrant red ground and carefully arranged resist-dyed motifs, illustrates her experimentation with colour, pattern and dress.
Her work reflects the continuing reinvention of Nigerian textile traditions, demonstrating how inherited techniques could be transformed through new materials, creative expression and changing ideas of fashion.
Courtesy of the Elizabeth Okuboyejo Foundation
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1. LACE, SWISS AND AUSTRIAN LACE
Made in Switzerland and Austria for the Nigerian market; worn in Lagos
Dates unknown · Machine-embroidered cotton lace and guipure; tailored blouses and sets
Lace came to Nigeria through the Lagos Island cloth traders, most of them women, who travelled to the mills of Switzerland and Austria, chose and commissioned designs, and set what Nigerians would wear to weddings and ceremonies.
The lengths and garments here span several decades of that trade, from heavy guipure to light embroidered voile.
Courtesy of the Owolana family
Courtesy of Mrs Akinsanya
Collection of Reni Folawiyo
2. LACE AGBADA, MEN’S CEREMONIAL ROBE
Yoruba, Southwestern Nigeria
Date unknown · White embroidered lace, tailored agbada
Courtesy of Mr Bally
3. TORLOWEI, BOUBOU AND SCARF WITH LACE
Lagos, Nigeria
Contemporary · Sheer fabric with lace
Courtesy of Torlowei
4. THE EVOLUTION OF THE DAMASK HEADTIE, FIVE STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
Woven in Europe for the Nigerian market; worn in Southwestern Nigeria · Mrs Dupe Sagoe
Dates to be confirmed · Damask textiles, developed in collaboration with European manufacturers
Working with European textile manufacturers, Mrs Dupe Sagoe helped transform the Nigerian damask headtie through successive innovations in weave, pattern, scale and embellishment. These five examples trace its evolution in response to changing tastes and the growing importance of the gele in Nigerian occasion dressing.
Her work reveals the influence of Nigerian women not only as consumers of imported textiles, but as active participants in their design and reinvention.
Courtesy of Mrs Dupe Sagoe
5. DAMASK SETS
Woven in Europe for the Nigerian market; worn in Southwestern Nigeria
Five decades, dates unknown · Jacquard-woven cotton damask
Imported from Europe, damask became a distinctive feature of Yoruba ceremonial dress. Its lustrous surface and substantial weight gave structure to the iro, buba, gele and men’s attire. Nigerian textile merchants influenced European manufacturers to develop new patterns, colours and finishes, transforming an imported cloth into an expression of local taste and identity.
Courtesy of Mrs Dupe Sagoe
6. GEORGE
Woven in India; worn in the Niger Delta and Southeastern Nigeria
Woven silk and cotton George
Originating in India and arriving through the trading ports of the Niger Delta, George cloth became an important part of ceremonial dress communities of the Niger Delta and Southeast.
Prized for its rich textures, elaborate patterns and lustrous finish, George was embraced, adapted and incorporated into local traditions of dressing, celebration and status.
A textile produced elsewhere became so deeply woven into the cultural identity of its wearers that it came to be regarded as their own. Its story reveals how trade, exchange and cultural adaptation can transform an imported fabric into an enduring expression of belonging.
7. ANKARA, PRINTED COTTONS
Printed in the Netherlands, England and Nigeria; worn across Nigeria
Contemporary · Wax-print cotton; lengths and tailored dress, blouse, skirt and jacket
Ankara is the Nigerian name for wax-print cotton: a Dutch imitation of Javanese batik that found its market in West Africa and was later printed in Nigerian mills.
Courtesy of Mrs Adesua Dozie
Reni Folawiyo collection
1. LACE, SWISS AND AUSTRIAN LACE
Made in Switzerland and Austria for the Nigerian market; worn in Lagos
Dates unknown · Machine-embroidered cotton lace and guipure; tailored blouses and sets
Lace came to Nigeria through the Lagos Island cloth traders, most of them women, who travelled to the mills of Switzerland and Austria, chose and commissioned designs, and set what Nigerians would wear to weddings and ceremonies.
The lengths and garments here span several decades of that trade, from heavy guipure to light embroidered voile.
Courtesy of the Owolana family
Courtesy of Mrs Akinsanya
Collection of Reni Folawiyo
2. LACE AGBADA, MEN’S CEREMONIAL ROBE
Yoruba, Southwestern Nigeria
Date unknown · White embroidered lace, tailored agbada
Courtesy of Mr Bally
3. TORLOWEI, BOUBOU AND SCARF WITH LACE
Lagos, Nigeria
Contemporary · Sheer fabric with lace
Courtesy of Torlowei
4. THE EVOLUTION OF THE DAMASK HEADTIE, FIVE STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
Woven in Europe for the Nigerian market; worn in Southwestern Nigeria · Mrs Dupe Sagoe
Dates to be confirmed · Damask textiles, developed in collaboration with European manufacturers
Working with European textile manufacturers, Mrs Dupe Sagoe helped transform the Nigerian damask headtie through successive innovations in weave, pattern, scale and embellishment. These five examples trace its evolution in response to changing tastes and the growing importance of the gele in Nigerian occasion dressing.
Her work reveals the influence of Nigerian women not only as consumers of imported textiles, but as active participants in their design and reinvention.
Courtesy of Mrs Dupe Sagoe
5. DAMASK SETS
Woven in Europe for the Nigerian market; worn in Southwestern Nigeria
Five decades, dates unknown · Jacquard-woven cotton damask
Imported from Europe, damask became a distinctive feature of Yoruba ceremonial dress. Its lustrous surface and substantial weight gave structure to the iro, buba, gele and men’s attire. Nigerian textile merchants influenced European manufacturers to develop new patterns, colours and finishes, transforming an imported cloth into an expression of local taste and identity.
Courtesy of Mrs Dupe Sagoe
6. GEORGE
Woven in India; worn in the Niger Delta and Southeastern Nigeria
Woven silk and cotton George
Originating in India and arriving through the trading ports of the Niger Delta, George cloth became an important part of ceremonial dress communities of the Niger Delta and Southeast.
Prized for its rich textures, elaborate patterns and lustrous finish, George was embraced, adapted and incorporated into local traditions of dressing, celebration and status.
A textile produced elsewhere became so deeply woven into the cultural identity of its wearers that it came to be regarded as their own. Its story reveals how trade, exchange and cultural adaptation can transform an imported fabric into an enduring expression of belonging.
7. ANKARA, PRINTED COTTONS
Printed in the Netherlands, England and Nigeria; worn across Nigeria
Contemporary · Wax-print cotton; lengths and tailored dress, blouse, skirt and jacket
Ankara is the Nigerian name for wax-print cotton: a Dutch imitation of Javanese batik that found its market in West Africa and was later printed in Nigerian mills.
Courtesy of Mrs Adesua Dozie
Reni Folawiyo collection
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