A Champion for Ready-made Garments
In this report, Ugo Aliogo examines the efforts of Clothing 360, a non-governmental organisation involved in championing the campaign to develop Nigeria’s ready-towear industry
According Akinkugbe despite having a vibrant fashion industry, Nigeria’s RMG industry is still unorganised and grossly underdeveloped
The look on her face was tense as she walked into the passenger waiting room of Air Peace in the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. She tried to put up a brave face with a smile to calm her anxiety. But her tense and anxious face was too strong for the smiles to conquer. Before her departure to Abuja, she had fixed an interview with a journalist and her flight was to take off 30 minutes later.
She was a bit troubled because of the limited time she had to grant the interview and board. She began the interview not ready to go into any preambles. Her first point of call was to place a distinction between the fashion and Ready-Made Garment ( RMG) industries. The reason was mainly because, according to her, fashion designing is seen by many Nigerians, particularly existing and aspiring clothing entrepreneurs, as the only career path to success in the clothing business.
As the founder of Clothing 360, a non-profit, non-governmental organisation ( NGO) in Nigeria, Oreofe Akinkugbe is passionate about the clothing business. Her passion is fueled not for financial gains but rather her deep seated concerns for Nigeria to develop the RMG industry and tap into the industry’s huge potential to rapidly transform the Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) value chain.
Akinkugbe’s involvement in Nigeria’s CTG value chain began over a decade ago in 2006. In the past 11 years, she has been studying the country’s CTG value chain, with a focus on its RMG industry. She has researched on the trends and practices in Nigeria’s RMG industry vis-a-vis the experiences of successfully industrialised textile and RMG exporting nations with similar economies. Her advocacy is for Nigeria to develop its RMG industry and adopt the global RMG industry best practices.
In the spirit of advocating and stimulating the development of Nigeria’s RMG industry, Akinkugbe conceptualised and launched The Garment Maker (TGM) initiative in 2012, in collaboration with a training institute in Nigeria. TGM is an innovative RMG making initiative created for three reasons, which also function as its objectives. These are: empowerment, enlightenment and entertainment.
She believes firmly that active government, private partnership and investments are vital to the sustainable turnaround of the country’s RMG industry. She said the organisation is focused on a total coverage of everything about clothing production, from cotton to retail. “The organisation is not focused on the fashion industry; although it recognises that the industry is a part of the clothing production process which begins with designing. The organisation is also focused on the CTG value chain. It seeks to stimulate concerted efforts of stakeholders to organise and develop Nigeria’s RMG industry and by extension the entire value chain.
“We are non-profit because we see our work as a means to an end, not an end in itself. We have four focus areas: advocacy, awareness and enlightenment; convening and networking; capacity building, empowerment and development; and monitoring and evaluation,” she noted.
She pointed out that the RMG industry is also known as the clothing or garment industry. There are two main sides of garment making; the industrial side and the fashion side. The RMG industry is focused on the industrial side of garment making, while the fashion industry is obviously focused on the fashion side.
“Generally, the industrial side of garment making involves production of garments, which mostly are simple designs, in garment factories – from small to large scale. It involves the garment making skills set and professional expertise for operating or working in a garment factory. It also involves managing the garment production supply chain, from sourcing raw materials and inputs to production in the factory, and retailing in stores.
“The fashion side of garment making involves the creative, design, construction and style aspects of garment production, particularly the design which is often complex. It involves the study and business of garments or ‘fashion’ design. “It also involves the complementary products and services that go with garments such as shoes, bags, hair and makeup, photography, merchandising and others. Other areas of the fashion side include setting trends in garment design, style and complementary products and services,” she stated.
According Akinkugbe despite having a vibrant fashion industry, Nigeria’s RMG industry is still unorganised and grossly underdeveloped. “In the professional garment making skills set, fashion designing is at the top of the ladder. The first step in making a garment starts with the design idea (conceptualisation), which is sketched on paper. “Then the garment is constructed and the fabric and accessories are decided. For a ready-made or ready-to-wear garment, after the first step of designing, the remaining stages involve the RMG industry. A sample maker produces the first sample of the garment which is then mass produced,” Akinkugbe explained.
The founder regretted that priority attention is not placed in Nigeria’s RMG industry, adding that the average fashion designer, tailor and dressmaker in Nigeria view the fashion industry as the sum total of the clothing business.
“In Nigeria, the term ‘fashion designer’ is often used interchangeably with ‘tailor’. A fashion designer is not a tailor. A tailor by global definition is someone who makes suits – tailored jackets, trousers, shirts and clothing. There are also dressmakers who make dresses. Tailors and dressmakers, or seamstresses, often work with designers to assist them in making their samples.
“If Nigeria is to become a leading global player in the production of cotton and high quality textile, it must develop it RMG industry in an inclusive and sustainable manner. This is the optimal way to drive and fast-track the growth of the country’s CTG value chain. Case studies can be found in the experiences of China, Bangladesh, Turkey, Vietnam and many East Asia countries, which, with active government involvement, have made remarkable progress in textile and RMG production.
“Most of these countries didn’t start initially with producing cotton or textile. Rather, they developed their RMG industry and used it to drive the growth of the value chain. This is clearly because finished products drive the demand for raw materials and not the other way around. For RMG, the largest per cent of the raw materials used in its production is cotton.
“Therefore, if Nigeria’s textile industry focuses on producing fabrics for RMG, the demand for long-staple cotton will increase. From 26