Since the Coronavirus outbreak, the bridal and events industry has been counting losses running into millions in certain cases. With more events being postponed or cancelled, we’ve shared tips to help keep you and your wedding guest safe.
We caught up with Tosin Agboola from Nigeria’s premier bridal styling company, The Wardrobe Manager and she shared her thoughts and some thought-provoking stats on how this new disease, Coronavirus is impacting the bridal fashion industry.
Wedding dresses and outfits are emotional and sensitive to brides. If you do not get the dresses/outfits you have always dreamed of, it can be emotionally damaging and can affect your mood on your wedding day.
Dress and fabric production in China has come to a halt as suppliers are unable to commute to their factories due to fear of breeding the Corona Virus. This implies that with China being the home of labor, the entire supply chain is affected!
80% of the world’s supply comes out of China including fabrics, wedding dresses, human hair extensions, wigs, and accessories.
Approximately 70% of Nigerian brides-to-be depend solely on wedding dress designers who make custom wedding dresses to suit their unique taste and preferences while others source their outfits from bridal stores locally or abroad
About 60% of wedding dresses are custom made by Nigerian designers who largely depend on importing fabrics, accessories and other components to make bridal outfits and gowns
Brides-to-be who live abroad and have chosen to get married in Nigeria and others having destination weddings within the first and second quarter of 2020 are now postponing their wedding ceremonies to the last quarter of 2020 (peak season in the Nigerian wedding industry) or even 2021.
Even Lagos Bridal Fashion Week (LBFW) that was meant to hold in the early quarter of 2020 has been rescheduled for September 2020. This implies that it will be a very busy period in the Nigerian wedding industry for event consultants, wedding dress designers, bridal boutiques and other stakeholders in the industry, thus, we anticipate a delay in production generally.
There is increased fear of wedding dress designers, fabric connoisseurs from importing fabrics and other components due to the fear that they may be infected from packaging or items might have been handled en route by affected individuals.
It’s not all doom and gloom though, look out for part 2 where Tosin shares useful tips to help you get through these uncertain times.
About The Wardrobe Manager
The Wardrobe Manager (TWM) is Nigeria’s premier bridal styling company. The TWM team strive to offer not only the perfect wardrobe but a convenient and reliable shopping experience for brides, turning her wedding wardrobe into a powerful expression of her personality and style.
