Fashion and Nollywood

Fashion has always been an important part of the movie industry and the Nigerian movie industry popularly known as Nollywood is no different. The relationship between fashion and the movie industry is essential as it adds more depth to the movie.

Fashion is used to show clothing styles of the era the movie is set in, the economic background of the characters, their ages and even their beliefs. It says the things that are not conveyed in words.You do not need to be told that a character is a member of the clergy, a doctor, a teenager or a beggar.

The way they are dressed would communicate that information to you, which is why a costume designer is an important member of the crew. It is the costume designer’s duty to ensure characters are wearing clothes associated with the roles they are playing. If a character doesn’t dress to match the era the movie is set in, their age and economic background, the viewers/audience would not get a good idea of what’s going on.

That is why it is important for costume designers to research and get the accurate looks for the characters they’re designing for.Movies are influential in pop culture and could set trends for viewers. Many times the viewers would dress to look like their favorite characters, sporting the same hairstyles and clothes like their favorite characters.

Fashion is important to depict a character’s growth and change. If the character was formally rebellious and decides to tone it down or if they were formerly irreligious and find a new faith it would be evident in their fashion choices. If they also fall into hard times after formerly being rich their clothing styles would reflect that transition. It would be extremely out of place for an actor playing a rich person to be dressed in threadbare clothes or a an actor playing a poor character dressed in expensive lace and headgear.

Fashion is also used to make a statement about what the characters believe and what they stand for. If a character in a conservative society is rebellious the character would pick outfits that set them apart from other members of that society.

Also, if a character is part of cult/sect they would only dress up in colors that show they belong to that sect/group.Offscreen, fans of Nigerian actors and actresses are also obsessed with the fashion items worn by their favorite stars. Fans would buy an outfit worn by their favorite stars to feel a connection to them.

If Ini Edo likes a certain fashion brand and wears their outfits her fans would feel inclined to buy from the brand too leading to greater sales for the brand, which is why many moviestars are used as the faces of major fashion brands in the country.

These brands know that once a star endorses their business it brings in a lot of profits from people who are admirers of that star.When award season comes around, more fashion pieces are rolled out on the red carpet and while fans are eager to see their favorite stars take huge awards home, they are also also excited to see their fashion choices for the event.

Pages, podcasts, YouTube Videos , blog posts are created to talk about the fashion choices of the stars, questions are asked about who designed what they wore and if it was a good fit or not. It is just as eventful as the main show itself if not more.

The outfits are rated in order of how good or terrible they are and it is not uncommon to see fans showing pictures of theit faves they thought were really good to their tailors for a replication.Actors who fall into the best dressed list curated by fans are seen as fashion icons and others who fall short are urged to do better.