Why custom clothing is reserved for the ‘haves’

The fashion industry has come a long way and the success that it enjoys today is all thanks to the creatives and different talents. The evolution has brought a particular trend; custom made clothing.

Whether it is a wedding gown, red carpet fit, or even a suit, there is a designer or stylist on the local market, who can easily pull this off. Some of the biggest designer brands include Brenda Maraka, Sham Tyra, Anita Beryl, Stellah Atal, Larry Casual, K-Raphael, Ras Kasozi, and many others.

But these pieces come at hefty price, with some of them like the wedding gowns costing as much as Shs15m. Are clients paying for expensive fabric imported from overseas or people have to pay for the brand tag that comes with owning some of these outfits?

Abbas Kaijuka, a designer and stylist, says more and more clients are opting for custom made outfits because they want to look unique.

 “Previously, people were ordering for clothes abroad. But they were getting clothes that everyone else was wearing, because many are industrial made, so there was no element of uniqueness,” he explains.

Crazy demands

Contrary to the popular belief, Kaijuka says the rates are not any different from what it would cost to order from an international designer.

“Unless you are ordering from affordable brands such as Fashion Nova, a gown from the high end brands will cost you twice as much as you would pay, if you were buying from a Ugandan designer,” he adds. 

Kaijuka explains that the prices normally shoot up because of the crazy demands that the clients have, as some of the custom orders come with specific detailing. 

‘Clients come with images from the internet and need them replicated. If I am going to copy and paste a gown by Zuhair Murad or Alexander McQueen, it is going to come at a cost. Clients need to let designers be creative and not force them to duplicate other people’s work,” he adds.

Time and cost of production

Dyna Vence Ruvuza, a fashion designer, says many factors affect the prices of custom made clothing.

‘Designers value their time differently. There are also other factors such as demand for a particular design or brand, production capacity and the cost of production,” says Ruvuza.

Clare Asiimwe of Sew Bantu adds that custom made pieces are uniquely made, tailored to a person’s body and needs, and the designer has to pay attention to a lot of things to deliver exceptional work.

‘The time and craftsmanship that goes into a customised outfit means the designer has to be compensated well,”she adds. Designer Fatuma Asha points to high production costs and time it takes for creatives to work and deliver to their clients’ expectations.

‘The cost of one tailor in Uganda is equivalent to what they pay five tailors in China. Then the high cost of fabric; if you are to import, you end up paying about Shs25,000 per metre, but upon arrival, you pay three times that much in taxes,” she states.

While people turn to the Internet for inspiration for their orders, Asha says this is disrespectful to designers, whose work is being copied but also limits the creativity of the local talent. There you have it. If you are planning to have something unique and custom-made, you know why you have to dig deeper in your pockets.