Architects as Fashion Designers: An Emerging Enterprise for Sustainable Growth

Abstract

ABSTRACT Overtime the fashion world in Nigeria has largely depended on imported products. Statistics show that most of these products do not meet the socio-cultural and economic needs of the people. However, efforts made by fashion designers to bridge this gap by rolling out innovative fashion products and adequate skill-sets have suffered setbacks. To sustain this creative industry amidst the economic recession, this research explores the potential of architects - the master designers’ contributions to the fashion enterprise as one that has the potential for significant growth. The research explored the frontiers of fashion design and how architects can get involved to improve processes, products, and services through mixed research methods encircling data collected from literature reviews, interviews, case studies, and observation. The research results reveal that architects can function as fashion designers as 41 out of the 50 respondents constituting 95.3% of the studied population comprised of fashion designers and users were positive that the input of architects in the field of fashion is essentially needed to artfully realize the sustainable growth of the industry, 68% of the respondents strongly agreed that fashion designers share a similar skill set with architects, 44.9% of the respondents and 53.1% agree and strongly agree respectively that architects can become fashion designers, while 95.3% of the respondents are enthusiastic about seeing more architects in the fashion industry. The architects’ richness in artistic skills and creativity encapsulated in their sufficient knowledge of anthropometrics and ergonometric, user preferences, elements and principles of design will bring a significant boost to the fashion industry with new and improved articles of clothing which will, in turn, generate revenue for them, promote the growth of the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product (GDP), propagate the nation’s cultural heritage and tourism, stimulate her global recognition and attention.Keywords: Architect, Creativity, Fashion Design, Emerging Enterprise.