The Nigerian fashion industry is full of lies and confusion. Any body can wake up and be a "fashion designer". The word Tailor is ideally used for those who specialise in men's suit. Some brands like Mai Atafo can't survive much without posing as Tailor. It's one of the vital ingredients in their branding, even though the proponent of the brand is more of a designer than a Tailor. Tailors are well respected in the western world. It's just in Nigeria they're seen as road side.

All I'm trying to say is if you've never sketched anything totally on your own without taking from an already existing design of others people, YOU ARE A TAILOR.

It's okay to be a tailor. I am a Tailor, most of us are saying you're a fashion designer when you're not is very illegal. Be true to your craft.

"If a tailor is a vehicle mechanic who knows how to fix when something goes wrong, then the fashion designer is an engineer who has created the vehicle & knows the reasons for each part and the overall design.

If a tailor is a brick-laying mason, then the fashion designer is the overall architect who knows what is to be created, where, how and why.

If a tailor is your neighbourhood electrician who knows how to fix your fan, then the fashion designer is the person who has created the overall blueprints for the fan."

I consider myself a fashion designer as I design the concept, develop it and bring it through to the end product.