How Fashion Lovers are Choosing Nigerian Handmade Bags Over Luxury Foreign Designs

How Fashion Lovers are Choosing Nigerian Handmade Bags Over Luxury Foreign Designs

Whether for luxury lovers or the fashionista next door, Nigerian bag brands are doing a great job in the fashion industry. While foreign designers still have a lot of people in a chokehold, many indigenous handmade bag brands are pulling their weight, which is beautiful to see.

A brief trip to Instagram shows that the past couple of years have witnessed a rise in the number of bag-making brands in the country, some of which are handmade.

From leather bags to crochet purses, beautiful Nigerian handbag creations abound.

Nigerian handmade bags/Nigerian brands/Nigerian fashion
Photos of some bags by Nigerian brands. Credit: @fusion_grandeur, @femihandbags, @shop_rubeei
Source: Instagram

With these businesses thriving beautifully, one would hardly believe that some 15 to 20 years ago, having a handmade Nigerian bag was unfashionable and almost laughable.

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In the early 2000s, the craze for high-end foreign brand items was high as many fashion lovers believed they were of better quality and more fashionable.

It goes without saying that many people were fairly satisfied with homemade goods, choosing to go for foreign luxury fashion brands instead.

For many people, to be seen with such products encouraged the perception of wealth, affluence and being au courant.

The love for foreign brands unarguably contributed to the production - and high patronage - of fake designer products, some of which sell for outrageous amounts of money due to their likeness to original designs.

But everything has changed - and Nigerian brands seem to be winning.

Embracing Nigerian bag brands

Interestingly, a lot of people are leaning towards Nigerian brands these days.

Despite celebrities flaunting expensive foreign designer bags worth hundreds of thousands and even millions of naira, the pressure fans feel to look just as chic and fashionable has been lessened by the availability of affordable and trendy handmade options.

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From clothes and shoes down to handbags, it is glaring that many people are sold on the 'buy Nigerian' movement these days, and it is not hard to see why.

With luxury brands like Femihandbags (which has been in the business for 30 years) and younger brands like Toke Makinwa's namesake brand catering to luxury lovers, there are also a lot of other brands specially created for the girl next door.

Jumoke, a fashion enthusiast, says she owns over six bags gotten for Nigerian brands, and she has no regrets about investing her money in these handmade bags.

"They come in so many beautiful designs and are often very affordable. It's almost hard to resist buying them seeing as they are always within my budget. I use to have doubts about the quality and durability of these bags but I've been proven wrong time and time again," she tells Legit.ng's Kumashe Yaakugh.

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Shop Rubeei, an Abuja-based bag brand, started producing beautiful handmade bags in February 2021.

According to the creative director, business was slow at the beginning.

"However, I believe when they noticed the quality and design of Nigeria made bag it made them open. So far, the reception has been good so far."

Shop Rubeei attributes the rise in the demand for handmade bag brands to the increase in the need to showcase what Nigeria has to offer in the fashion industry.

"I also believe there’s a rise because of the cost of importing. So, people are thinking of how to stay in business and provide quality products for their customers."

Nigerian brands are staking their claim in the ever-evolving fashion industry by becoming more expressive and creative in their daring designs that appeal to many fashion lovers.

With the continuous rise in the patronage of Nigerian brands, it is a no brainer that the coming years will be an interesting period for the fashion industry!

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Crochet is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term crochet, meaning 'hook'.

The crochet trend is back and, from the look of things, is still all the rage for 2022 as more designs in refined and less homespun styles continue to rule the runway.

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Source: Legit.ng

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