Email: oluakinmoye2026@gmail.com. Adeyemi Omotayo Adegeye Oluwambe Akinmoye Department of Industrial Design, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria RELEVANCE OF FASHION DESIGN SCHOOLS TO THE APPAREL INDUSTRY IN LAGOS METROPOLIS Abstract This study evaluates the skills taught in fashion design schools and what is expected in the fashion and apparel industry in Lagos metropolis. The study adopted a survey research design to elicit responses from fashion design schools administrators, fashion design schools students and apparel making enterprises within Lagos metropolis. A total of one hundred and forty-five (n=145) copies of questionnaire were administered out of which one hundred and fifteen (n=115) were returned representing a return rate of 79.3%. The respondents were selected using random sampling technique and oral interaction preceded questionnaire administration. The questionnaire items were drawn from two research questions which guided the study. The responses were analysed using frequency tables, percentile and the mean. The results showed that all skills acquired from the fashion design schools are required in the apparel industry as they have a mean value of 3.0 and above. However, these skills which include business and management, lay planning, freehand cut, and computer-aided-design are not prioritized in the fashion design schools, hence, there is need for the academics, fashion design schools, fashion and apparel industry and policy maker in the industry to entrench the areas of skills deficit in the fashion design school's curriculum and training to reflect the expectation of the industry. Keywords: Fashion design schools, curricula, fashion skills, apparel industry, Lagos metropolis. Introduction The apparel industry is a global trade. The global apparel market was valued at US$1.7 trillion in 2012 and employs approximately 75 million people (Global Fashion Industry Statistics International, 2014). It is one of the leading employers of labour in the world, especially in developing countries. In Nigeria, the fashion industry is still nascent and the apparel manufacturing activities are somewhat minimal and dominated by made-to-measure garments enterprises. The most common form of apparel production takes place in small enterprises located in markets, kiosks, shopping complexes and private homes. Lately, there are a few involvements of formally trained fashion designers in the apparel design practice in Lagos metropolis. This may be linked to poor academic attention given to the fashion design profession. Despite the importance of Clothing and Textiles in our society, the situation has not been so reflected in Nigeria's Tertiary Institution (Arubayi, 2009). This is conspicuously evident as there are only four polytechnics, namely, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos; The Federal Polytechnic, Kaduna; Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi; Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi-Uku and one university, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH), offering fashion and apparel design. Kenya, for example, has five universities that offer fashion and apparel design (Maiyo, Abong, & Tuigon, 2014). No wonder, the Kenyan apparel industry is bigger than that of Nigeria (U.S. International Trade Commission, 2009). In countries such as the United Kingdom, fashion and apparel design is being studied and there are even specialist colleges such as London College of Fashion (LCF) which is part of the University of Art, London. Tertiary education, though not necessary for all job roles within the industry, certainly gives a competitive edge especially in design, supervisory and management roles within the apparel 119