Circular Fashion in Nigeria: Turning Textile Waste into Opportunity

Fathia OlasupoSeptember 29, 20250576 views

Every year, the fashion industry produces an estimated 92 million tonnes of textile waste. Much of it, from factory offcuts to discarded clothes, ends up in landfills or burns, contributing to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

In Nigeria, this challenge is growing in tandem with the fashion sector. Lagos, Abuja, and other cities are bursting with designers, tailors, and second-hand clothing markets. Yet behind this creativity lies a “take, make, dispose” culture that discards clothes once they’re out of trend or damaged. Circular fashion offers a way to flip that script.

What Circular Fashion Really Means

Circular fashion is about creating a system where clothes don’t just end up as waste. Instead, they stay in use for as long as possible through more innovative design, reuse, recycling, and repurposing. Here’s how it plays out:

Designing for longevity. Clothes should last. Strong stitching, modular cuts, and timeless designs reduce the throwaway cycle.
Reuse and resale. Nigeria’s secondhand culture is strong. But with structured resale platforms, rental services, and swap events, garments could easily pass through multiple lifecycles.
Upcycling. Turning waste into new fashion isn’t a new concept. Tailors in Lagos markets have long patched Ankara scraps into quilts and outfits. Modern brands are scaling this approach, creating patchwork jackets, bags, and accessories from offcuts.
Recycling. Advanced recycling turns old textiles into fibres for new yarns. Nigeria doesn’t yet have large-scale systems, but small startups and partnerships could pioneer this in West Africa.

Circular fashion doesn’t reject creativity; it channels it into designing systems that benefit both the environment and the economy.

Nigerian Designers Leading the Way

Several homegrown brands are already showing how sustainability can work:

Dye Lab, founded by Rukky Ladoja, produces small-batch collections with heritage dyeing methods that minimise waste.
This Is Us, a Lagos-based brand, partners with local weavers to produce durable, low-impact fabrics and repurposes leftover textiles.
Market upcyclers. Informal collectives across Lagos transform discarded denim, Ankara scraps, and damaged clothes into patchwork items that sell locally and abroad.

These examples prove that circular fashion is not just a theory. Nigerian designers are experimenting with it and finding value in waste.

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The Barriers We Must Break

For circular fashion to become mainstream, Nigeria faces some hurdles:

Awareness gaps. Many consumers still see clothes as disposable. Education and advocacy can shift this mindset.
Weak collection systems. Without drop-off points, old clothes end up in bins. Simple collection hubs in markets or malls make a difference.
Sorting and recycling tech. Blended fabrics are tricky to recycle. Investment in affordable recycling technology is vital.
Market demand. Consumers often undervalue recycled products. Designers and influencers can change perceptions by proving that “recycled” can be stylish and of high quality.

Policy Support: A Positive Signal

Encouragingly, policymakers are beginning to take notice. During the 2025 World Clean-Up Day in Lagos, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s Special Adviser on Environment, Olakunle Rotimi-Akodu, urged the textile industry to embrace circular fashion. He stressed that clean-ups alone cannot solve the crisis; real change must come from rethinking how clothes are designed, consumed, and reused.

This recognition from the government is essential. It signals that circular fashion isn’t just a designer’s niche experiment; it’s becoming part of the national conversation on sustainability.

A Practical Roadmap for Nigeria

For circular fashion to thrive, different groups have roles to play:

Designers and brands: audit waste streams, launch upcycled capsules, and design clothes built to last.
Consumers: Consumers can repair clothes or buy them secondhand, and they can support brands that prioritise sustainability.
Startups and recyclers: develop collection schemes, invest in fibre recycling, and collaborate with tailors.
Government and investors: fund pilot recycling hubs, offer tax breaks for sustainable businesses, and integrate circular practices into trade policies.

Measuring Success

Progress can be tracked through:

Tonnes of textiles diverted from landfill
Growth of upcycled collections
Jobs created in recycling and repair
Share of recycled fabrics in the market

Even small wins, such as adding more collection points or repair services in markets, can build momentum.

Waste as Wealth

Circular fashion is not about sacrificing style. It’s about designing more innovative systems where clothes live longer, waste is minimised, and new jobs are created in recycling and upcycling.

As Lagos’ recent call to action shows, the issue is gaining official recognition. However, it’s ultimately designers, brands, and consumers who will make circular fashion a reality in Nigeria.

The opportunity is clear: in the scraps piled in our markets lies the raw material for Nigeria’s next wave of fashion innovation.

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FAQs

1. What is circular fashion, and why is it essential in Nigeria?

Circular fashion is a sustainable approach that involves designing, using, and recycling clothes in ways that minimise waste. In Nigeria, where the fashion industry is booming and textile waste is accumulating, circular fashion helps protect the environment, extends the lifespan of fabrics, and creates new business opportunities through upcycling and recycling.

2. How can Nigerian designers adopt circular fashion practices?

Designers can start by producing small-batch collections, using durable fabrics, repurposing offcuts into new pieces, and establishing repair or take-back services for customers. Brands like Dye Lab and This Is Us are already demonstrating that circular practices can be effective in Nigeria’s creative economy.

3. What role does the government play in promoting circular fashion in Nigeria?

The Lagos State Government has recently urged textile and fashion operators to embrace circular practices, noting that clean-ups alone cannot solve waste problems. Policies such as recycling hubs, tax incentives for sustainable brands, and extended producer responsibility (EPR) rules can help scale circular fashion nationwide.

4. How can consumers in Nigeria support circular fashion?

Shoppers can play a significant role by repairing clothes instead of discarding them, buying second-hand or upcycled fashion, donating old garments at collection points, and supporting local brands that focus on sustainable and ethical production.

5. What are the challenges of circular fashion in Nigeria?

The most significant hurdles include low awareness, inadequate textile collection systems, limited recycling technology, and weak market demand for recycled products. However, Nigerian designers can transform these barriers into opportunities for growth by increasing advocacy, securing government backing, and driving innovation.