The Nigerian Film Industry popularly known as Nollywood, the fashion industry, reality shows like BBNaija and its like have been identified as some of the top trends that will drive the tourism and cultural landscape in Nigeria in 2020.
This is according to a recent report by The Culture Intelligence (Ci) company, RED | For Africa.
The report titled, ‘15 (and a half) trends that will drive the culture in Nigeria this year’ – documents some of the important sectors, issues, and interests that determine actions and drive conversations in Nigeria in 2020 while highlighting exploring patterns and influences in government, business, fashion, technology, television, and other industries to predict outcomes and trends in Nigeria.
According to a statement by Isime Esene, the Chief Intelligence Officer at RED | For Africa “With the constant change in consumer interests, tastes, and lifestyles, we provide useful, data-backed insights on what fuels these multi-sectoral changes and what to expect from them in the future. This report, which is one of many to be undertaken by Ci, explores the critical factors that drive Nigerian cultural and consumer behaviour in the immediate term, translating into economic, political, and social outcomes over the next year,” he said.
According to the report, the Nigerian fashion is at the start of a 30-year nostalgia cycle that will see trends from the 80s and 90s revisited.
“Vintage fittings are becoming attractive and in-style again, as evidenced by the Alte subculture and the proliferation of vintage-inspired brands with loose-fitting wears, Hawaiian prints and Nigeria’s own Oleku fashion for Owambe. Another major evolving trend is the bridal subset of Nigerian fashion witnessing continued growth at sustained levels over the last half-decade. This interest has brought, a focus on international fabric and indigenous designers who offer an authentic traditional Nigerian wedding experience. We expect to see in the next 12 years more adoption of contemporary technology to hybridise Nigerian weddings with innovations in fabric creation, constriction, and experimental designs. Do not be surprised to see an Iris Van Herpen iteration of a traditional Nigerian wedding dress” the report stated.
The report further stated that as fashion evolves in Nigeria, the demand for fashion experiences are also increasing and that demand is being met by fashion organisations who offer curated showcases.
“Organisations like Lagos Fashion Week, who operate as non-profit but command significant influence and revenue are competing with Nigerian corporations like Guaranty Trust Bank, who see the value in offering fashion lifestyle experiences to its customer base. Individual designers are also taking their slices of the pie with ticketed fashion showcases’ the report pointed out.
Touching on the impact that reality shows have had on the populace, the report stated that many organizations, TV Shows want to offer their own reality TV offerings.
‘Due to the success of The Big Brother Naija (#BBNaija) colossus, now every TV station, corporate spenders, and their mothers are set to experiment with or launch a new reality show this year. Some of them already shipped the shows in the last quarter of last year. In addition to that, there is a groundswell of bottom-up activity, with producers and directors selling, or creating the new reality TV content that they can absolutely show they can get the same cultural impact as #BBNaija. They are likely to fail: there is no evidence after all that the audience wants more reality TV offerings. But first, they will try, and try hard” the report stated.
The report further stated that Food experiences are spreading across the country and will continue to.
“We have food fairs and festivals, food sections at major events, an explosion of experimental restaurants (as opposed to clubs, and perhaps even hotels, Lagos and Abuja restaurants have incredible staying power, no matter how dramatic the expression as the former’s Danfo Bistro and the latter’s Nkoyo show today). Corporate investment is also very pronounced in this space. There is also an increased pop-culture appreciation for local food in popular media, typified by the internet’s obsession with Amala, Jollof everything (pasta, for instance), Nkwobi and a slew of other well-referenced traditional Nigerian meals. Something is about to take off with Nigerian foods. This may not be the year of liftoff, but the engines will continue to rev” the report further stated.
The report is published in partnership with YNaija.com and syndicated across platforms.