Style House Files is highlighting often ignored segments of our ecosystem.
The renowned Aswani Marketthat empowers and provides a source of income for women and our rapidly growing youth population.
The second hand clothing is often criticized for being an impediment to the growth of Nigeria’s retail and garment production industry, however we can not ignore that it is a means of livelihood for hundreds of thousands of Nigerians and an affordable clothing choice for millions of Nigerians including the style aficionados who are obsessed with rare vintage finds.
In highlighting this sub-sector, we are also drawing a parallel to reflect how making sustainable choices in sourcing for fashion design and production can further build Nigeria’s socio-economic and human capital, a conscious decision designers should make. Designers like Maki Oh, Nkwo, Kenneth Ize, Tiffany Amber, Lisa Folawiyo, Emmy Kasbit, IamIsigo and Ré Lagos to name a few, work with communities that weave, spin, dye, embellish and as such, are at the forefront of intentionally empowering such communities in their sourcing process. We applaud them for this and we hope this increased consciousness can further drive action towards sustainable processes in a way that can reverberate across the sector, generating economic impact by creating jobs and providing income.
Meet Mrs Chioma Okoye, a trader in Aswani market who sells second hand clothing and never misses a day because her family relies on the income gotten from retail.
Madam Suzzy is the assistant Iya Oloja of Aswani market who retails different type of goods and told us that revenue generated depends on the amount of stock the trader has.
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