Lilian Offeh’s vision, mission in Nigeria’s fashion industry

Lilian Offeh is the chief executive officer of Reva Nigeria Limited, a fashion outfit in Lagos. Lilian has over five years of experience in the Nigerian fashion Industry and hopes to be among the leading designers in the country in the nearest future.

Lilian started her business out of her love for designs and creativity. In her passion to create her own designs, Lilian attended a fashion school to improve her skills and knowledge in 2011. After graduating from her fashion school, Lilian wanted to just make her own clothes and that of her family and friends; she never wanted to commercialise it.

But after her university education in 2012, Lilian could not secure a white collar job and was in 2015 prompted to start Reva Nigeria.

She said her quest to fight unemployment led her to establish this business.

“The rate of unemployment in the country actually prompted me to start my fashion business as that would be profitable to me and create jobs for others,” she said.

The English Language graduate started her business with N20, 000, an amount she spent on buying fabrics and accessories. Lilian then got a sewing machine from her mother, who is also a fashion designer. This was how the business was birthed.

Since starting her business, Lilian has not taken any form of loan. She said her business had grown quite well since starting and that social media had impacted positively on its growth. Lilian said she had secured businesses through some of the platforms.

Lilian told Start-Up Digest that building her clientele base was the biggest challenge that confronted her business, as most Nigerians preferred patronising fashion outfit with popular brands. To address this challenge and convince some of the clients that her business could likewise deliver excellent services, she had to sow dresses for customers free of charge.

But her fashion business is challenged by high cost of fabrics and accessories. She, therefore, called on the government to revive the country’s textile industry so that prices of local fabrics could be less expensive than imported fabrics.

Despite her success story, the economic downturn in the country is impacting negatively on her business. The prices of fabrics and accessories have become expensive and most of her clients have been resisting price increment. She noted that this had reduced her profit margin.

Lilian said she would tell her younger self to keep pushing irrespective of the results until she got what she wanted. She said she would also tell her younger self to be determined and focused as these were essential things needed to succeed in life.

She added that despite the competition in the industry, her business had been able to survive owing to her creativity and ability to meet up with delivery dates.

“The Nigeria’s fashion industry is very competitive and we have been able to remain in business because of our creative designs and excellent finishing on our jobs and most importantly maintain a fixed collection and delivery date. Like we all know, designers are known for disappointing clients,” Lilian said.

“Government really needs to promote our Nigerian brands and encourage exportation of our traditional wears to the world,” she added.

 Josephine Okojie