Inside Lagos market where local tailors compete strongly with international brands

Maybe, just maybe, that dress you spotted in a boutique, which cost you a small fortune, thinking it was a high-end Turkish brand, was actually sewn in the heart of Lagos—specifically, the iconic Tejuosho market at Yaba.

With four bustling floors in two buildings, this market has become a thriving epicentre of the fashion world, where local tailors are not only rising but are fiercely competing with international brands.

Behind the scenes of the haggling and the noisy trading in this hub, a fast-rising fashion industry thrives daily, with businesses quietly drawing in loyal customers from across the globe.

A woman, who simply opted to be identified as Faith, to avoid being fined by the market union, is a self-driven young businesswoman in her 20s and has witnessed this transformation firsthand.
Her journey started with a simple Instagram page, where she began to resell clothes sourced from Yaba’s popular morning market, a bustling outlet for the market.

But it wasn’t long before her customers were no longer satisfied with the basic, mass-produced clothing—they now craved exclusivity.

They wanted pieces that were different, unique, and, most importantly, foreign-made.
Whether it was from Turkey, China, or anywhere but Nigeria, her clients sought the aura of international glamour.

“The feedback was clear,” Faith recalls. “They didn’t want Nigerian-made clothes. No matter how beautifully packaged they were, the label on the nylon was a dead giveaway. I needed to rethink my approach.”

That’s when she turned to what she had seen on Instagram and Pinterest—international designs that had caught her eye.

With determination, she set out to find local tailors who could recreate these designs with flawless precision, making them indistinguishable from the international pieces her clients desired.

She began and ended her search in Yaba, carefully scouting for tailors who could replicate the high-fashion styles she had seen online.

Her tailor, known as ‘Pastor’, was inexperienced and only knew how to sew joggers but Faith believed in his potential.

“He wasn’t perfect at first,” she admits. “But I saw the spark in him. I coached him, taught him the importance of detail and finishing.”
He eventually became the master craftsman behind her ‘unique’ fashion empire.

“Now, when he sews, you wouldn’t believe it was made here in Yaba,” Faith says with pride. “It took a lot of trial and error, but he eventually became good. He sews only for me now.”

Faith sources all her materials from the same market: the fabrics, the tags, the labels.

Everything is meticulously chosen, ensuring that each piece looks every bit as luxurious as its international counterparts.

What began as a simple Instagram page has blossomed into a fashion brand that blends local expertise with global appeal—an inspiring example of how the Tejuosho market has earned its reputation as a thriving fashion hub competing on the world stage.

“I have my own label,” Faith confesses, smiling. “but every time I use it, customers always find something wrong with the clothes but since when I began using China and Turkey labels, I haven’t received a single complaint.”

Her voice carries a mix of pride and realisation as she recounts this shift in strategy.
“It made me realise that customers are more comfortable with clothes that bear international labels, even if they don’t know they’re made right here in Yaba. Many people just don’t like wearing anything they think is Nigerian-made. They assume it’s inferior—but that’s far from the truth,” she quipped.

Faith’s business is thriving, but her success comes with a certain level of caution. Despite the booming demand for her creations, she remains discreet when it comes to her operations.

“Whenever I’m in the market, I make sure to stay inside the tailoring shops,” she says, her eyes darting slightly.

“I don’t want my customers to see me working because if they found out I’m sewing my clothes in Yaba, they might think less of my brand.”

The careful presentation of her clothes is no accident. Faith is meticulous in ensuring that every garment she creates mirrors the high-quality designs she sees in international fashion brands.

“I make sure that everything looks effortless like it came straight from one of Turkiye or China’s fashion warehouses. Even though it’s sewn here, it has to appear as if it’s foreign-made.”

Faith’s customers, she explains, often resell the dresses they buy from her, also as foreign made.
“I’ve seen one of my customers post a picture of a dress she bought from me, claiming it was made in Turkey. What she doesn’t realise is that I know about her business page. Sometimes I sell a dress for N22,000, and she sells it for as much as N50,000. People who see her post will think hers is the real deal and mine is fake, but they don’t know that she got it from me.”

Faith isn’t alone in this practice. “One of my friends also sells online. Her tailors are right here in Yaba, but she uses the Zara label to market her clothes. When you buy it, you feel like you’re getting Zara-quality wear. It’s all about how you package it—because customers don’t want to buy Nigerian-made clothes. They want the illusion of something foreign, something superior,” she said.

In the world of Yaba fashion hub, where quality and brand reputation are everything, the art of rebranding and packaging is just as crucial as the craftsmanship itself.

Faith, like many others, has learned that, in this business, perception often overshadows reality.

The Tejuosho market

Nestled between two bustling areas on the mainland of Lagos—Yaba and Surulere—Tejuosho Market stands as a vital commercial hub. Housed within two towering four-storey buildings, the market boasts of  about 2,383 lock-up shops.

It is a vibrant space where fashion items, fabrics, makeup, homewares, and even second-hand goods are sold.
As you navigate through the market, it’s impossible to ignore the persistent hustlers, who often aggressively pull passersby into one of the many shops, mostly brimming with thrift clothing.

From dawn till dusk, the market pulses with energy. It is home to two key market periods – the morning and evening markets, where fashion retailers gather to buy and sell goods in bulk. These markets are vital to the local retail economy, especially for wholesale buyers looking to stock up on trendy items at competitive prices.

A day in the life of a Yaba fashion businessman

Ekene, a businessman in the market, rises before dawn—by 3 a.m. three times a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. By the time the first light breaks, he’s already on his way to the morning market, prepared to sell the clothes he spent the previous days designing and crafting with his local tailor.

By the time our correspondent caught up with him at 6 am on Monday, the businessman had already sold over 100 pieces from his latest collection–a series of trendy skirts with combat-style designs.

The market was abuzz with sounds of  buyers and sellers bargaining. The open-air market  is located behind the towering complex. It was already  cramped with buyers, sellers and mannequins competing for space.

Selling in the morning market, however, comes at a huge cost, and it is one that lines the pockets of street urchins.
Vendors like Ekene are required to pay various fees to sell their goods, although none of these charges are properly documented.

“The boys can come to you and say their oga is having a running stomach, so everyone must contribute,” Ekene explains.
“If you refuse, they’ll simply take some of your mannequins, and you’ll have to pay N20,000 to get them back.”

For his small unmarked space, Ekene pays N13,000 daily for the three days he shows up.

Surrounding him were six mannequins, each costing him N150,000 just to get approval to have them displayed.

Draped in the latest fashion items, the mannequins flaunted labels from international brands like Zara, Pretty Little Thing, Boohoo, and others known for their trendy women’s wear.

Women’s fashion predominantly drives sales here, Saturday PUNCH observed.
The demand for stylish, affordable clothing is ever-present, and the mannequins surrounding him serve as silent promoters of the global brands that dominate the fashion scene in Tejuosho.

Four times that day, large-scale buyers stopped by Ekene’s space to admire his skirts, only to ask if he had them in pink.

“No, come back on Wednesday, it will be available,” he assured them with a confident smile.

“I’m the only one selling these skirts in this market,” he added proudly, a subtle puff of his chest betraying his self-assurance.

“I created the design myself. Before you know it, it will be everywhere, but my customers know they can only get the original from me. One woman I taught this business is selling something similar, but if you look at my materials and finishing, you can’t compare the two.”

As the heat from the morning sun grew more intense, the noise in the market began to subside.

“Market is slow today,” Ekene remarked around 10 a.m., signalling to some boys. On cue, they quickly packed up his mannequins and remaining clothes, heading back to his shop in the heart of Tejuosho Market.
Despite the slowdown in business outside, for Ekene, the day had only just begun.

Once inside his shop, he made his way to another area where he kept his tailoring equipment. There, his team was already busy cutting fabric for a fresh batch of pink combat skirts. One of his tailors, a skinny dark-skinned lady was already at work sewing zips into the new batch.

She would be paid N100 for each skirt, Ekene said.

This has been Ekene’s routine for the past two years, ever since he moved from selling Ankara fabrics to designing and selling ready-to-wear clothes.

“There’s gain in this business,” he told our correspondent, who mentioned she wanted to start selling clothes but didn’t know where to begin.

“Even if you’ve been written off, if you come into this business with determination, you will succeed. In fact, if you start today with N50,000 and set a goal to make N1 million by the end of the year, you will make it.”

To prove his point that determination is the hallmark of business success, Ekene showed our correspondent the schedule alarm on his phone. The display indicated that by 2 a.m., he was awake, and by 3:30 a.m., he was already in the market.
Another reason for his early arrival was that his international clientele from other African countries arrived at the market very early.

“Imagine a market where people from Liberia, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, and the Benin Republic come to,” he said. “You don’t want to waste that opportunity. They come between June and August .”

Ekene went on to explain that boutique owners come from all over Nigeria to Tejuosho, adding, “If you come into the market, 90 per cent of all the clothes sold here are made in this market. If you go up, you’ll feel the heat because of how serious this market is.”

Constant electricity, affordable manpower

As our correspondent walked up the stairs farther into the tailoring area, it was evident that a significant portion of the workforce here consists of young men and women, though there are also middle-aged individuals marching through the market, their shoulders laden with fabrics.

Walking through the stalls in the market is akin to entering a sweltering room. The rotating fans, struggling against the heat, only circulate stifling air.

A few fortunate shop owners have invested in air conditioners, offering them a rare respite from the noise and heat that permeates the environment.
The atmosphere in the market is alive with the constant hum of activities, as the sound of tailoring equipment fills the air in a rhythmic symphony of machinery and craftsmanship.

The steady whirr of sewing machines is interrupted only by the sharp snap of scissors slicing through fabric.

Amid this, there’s the thud of heavy irons being set down, sending bursts of steam across the seams of freshly sewn garments.

Above the industrial noise, the constant chatter of tailors rises, their sounds competing with the loud music blasting from various stores, each vying for dominance.

The air is filled with energy and purpose, the sounds reflecting the precise, industrious nature of the work being done.

Many market vendors attribute the growth and success of the market to constant electricity supply.

Some even believe Tejuosho will soon surpass Abia’s Ariaria Market in scale and prominence. “The light here is a game-changer,” said one vendor. “If the power goes out, it’s back on in less than two minutes.”
Tailors are kings in Tejuosho market

There is an abundance of tailors specialising in a specific aspect of clothing production.

“One person cuts the fabric, another attaches the buttons, another does the zips, and someone else handles the ironing,” explained another fashion vendor, Ebuka. “Here, the most important person is the tailor.”

Tailors in the market are typically paid per piece, with wages agreed upon beforehand.

“In Yaba, tailors are kings,” Ebuka continued. “They’re making money, whether they’re experts or beginners. But it takes a lot of trial and error to find a good one.”

Joy Eloka, a tailor who specialises in making skirts, confirmed this practice, adding that it’s a team effort. “At least four people could be involved in making a single piece. In Yaba, no one person does everything, unless they are a bespoke tailor, but they’re more expensive.”

Loyalty, it seems, is a rare commodity among the tailors. Our correspondent discovered that it’s not uncommon for a tailor to abandon their current client for a better pay with someone else even if it was just N50 more.
Ebuka shared his frustration with this practice. “I had to travel all the way to Ilorin to find tailors that can work exclusively for me because of it,” he said, shaking his head.

“It’s crazy trying to work with tailors from Yaba. Once they start mingling with others here, they’re easily swayed, and before you know it, they’re off to work with the highest bidder.”

It’s a constant struggle for business owners like Ebuka, who must balance their relationships with tailors while ensuring the continuity and quality of their work.