Medical Fashion is a production initiative we imagined during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when our lives, businesses and that of the whole world was disrupted. Pivoting from our regular clothing productions to produce fabric face masks and some other personal protective equipment such as the medical scrubs, aprons, lab coats provided us an insight to the clothing needs of the health sector that naturally we were not looking at. With our current machinery, and just a few additions, we could venture into a fashion brand production for the health sector in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Read: A Huge Vista: Looking Beyond Our Conventional Clothing Productions
Fast forward, November 2021, we got selected to participate on the United Nations project – Strengthening the Capacity of Nigerian MSMEs and Manufacturers to meet the demand for quality healthcare products and Personal Protective Equipment – a COVID 19 Response Project. Of the over 5,000 applications received from businesses across the country, Zucchini Fashion Center is priviledged to be part of the 163 businesses shortlisted for the pilot project.
The project, funded by the UN Basket Fund, coordinated by UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and jointly implemented by International Labour Organization (ILO), World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Women in collaboration with the Nigerian Government. The goal is to strengthen and support the capacity of local MSMEs and manufacturers to locally produce quality PPEs and healthcare products based on international standards and regulations to meet both domestic and foreign demand. The objectives of the project include the need to address identified skills and knowledge gaps among business owners; provide quality resources and technical support to help business owners to grow and expand business operations, including facilitating procurement of requisite equipment and business grants.
The project would also upgrade the production processes, adopt standards and technical regulations as reference to produce high -quality PPEs and healthcare products. The products will be to meet local demand as well as for export to the ECOWAS sub-region. The expected outcome is to strengthen the capacity of selected local MSMEs and manufacturers which will include at least 30 per cent women and 20 percent youth-led businesses.
Over the last one year, we have participated and gleaned from various business and capacity development trainings organized by the various UN led agencies and their partner organizations. Some of the engaging training sessions are Occupational Safety and Health for Enterprises; Capacity Building on Access to Finance for MSMEs; Roadmap to SON Product Certification; among several others. A very exciting part for us is that our Center hosted one of the training sessions for selected participants in Oyo State.
At Zucchini Fashion Center, we believe that our aspirations to branch into the field of “Medical Fashion” stemming from our exploits during the pandemic, and especially with our Chief Executive, whose dream to marry her educational qualifications in Microbiology with her fashion exploits. Here is the opportunity. Also participating in the robust, integrated and coordinated technical and training assistance by the UN led agencies provides clarity as we explore this pathway. Going forward to implement and put into practice the lessons learnt from the enriching capacity building sessions, and tremendous support from the UN agencies; we look forward to unveiling our medical fashion brand – MEDFASHION by Zucchini.
According to Fortune Business Insights, the global market for medical clothing, of which scrubs and surgical gowns are the largest segment, was $86.15 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $140 billion by 2028. At the same time, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that health care-related jobs were expected to grow by 15 percent from 2019 to 2029, adding 2.4 million new jobs, or “more jobs than any of the other occupational groups.” (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/fashion/healthcare-workers-scrubs-fashion.html)
MEDFASHION by Zucchini is a fashion brand production initiative of Zucchini Fashion Center to produce protective, functional, and exquisite fashion styles and accessories for players in the health sector in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa. We intend to explore our vibrant and vast fashion cultures across Africa in providing suited workplace outfits for the different work activities and functions in the medical field – scrubs, lab coats and jackets, aprons, gowns, and accessories.
The New York Times noted “It’s the one way that everyone in the hospital can express themselves,” said Chaitenya Razdan, the founder of Care+Wear, which he started in 2014 on the premise that people dealing with medical issues should feel like people, not patients. And part of that is dressing like an individual.” (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/fashion/healthcare-workers-scrubs-fashion.html)
We are immensely grateful to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and partner UN agencies for this opportunity to be part of the project and for the immense resource provided on the project for MSMEs in ensuring that Nigeria and by extension, the West African region is prepared to combat future global health challenges. On our part we will continue to collaborate with all the UN led agencies on the project, our initiative and many more as we journey to be the choice production, training, research, and consulting fashion company in Sub-Saharan Africa.