Social media has been a meeting place for US teenagers and African fashion designers who are taking advantage of the market opportunity.
The hashtag #AfricanPromDress now has more than 61 million views on TikTok.
African designers who spoke to the BBC said that US prom dress orders accounted for a big chunk of their annual revenue – in one case up to 25%.
“I felt like a princess,” says US teenager Brianna LeDoux about her prom gown which she specially commissioned from Nigeria.
I wanted a story I could wear – something that said: ‘This is who I am, and this is where my roots run'”
“They say there is this pride when they can say: ‘My dress came from Nigeria,'” she says. “We had about three clients who won ‘best dressed’, and two who were prom queens.”
“They made sure every number was perfect so my dress would fit like a glove,” she says.
When the emerald gown arrived, “everyone was amazed”, Nian says.
“The veil dragged across the floor, the fabric was heavy, and people kept saying: ‘Wow… a beautiful black queen.'”
Popular styles include corseted bodices, high slits, feathered trains, detachable capes and beaded sleeves. Some are inspired by Met Gala themes, Yoruba bridal looks or Afrofuturist aesthetics.
But when Brianna made a TikTok video of herself , externalin her African prom gown, she did not expect the reaction she got – it went viral and her post now has more than 1.1 million views.
“Honestly, if my nails were ugly, my make-up was disgusting, and my hair wasn’t cute, as long as I was in that dress, I was fine.”
When Memphis high schooler Trinity Foster, 18, went searching for a prom dress, she wanted something “rare to see” in the US and found it on TikTok from a Lagos-based designer.
This reflects a growing interest that has driven demand for custom-made outfits with bold designs and unique embellishments.
What began as a TikTok and Instagram trend – with people like Brianna flaunting their garments – has led to a booming business that links fashion designers in Africa to young people outside the continent.
The average price for an African-made prom dress ranges from $600 to $1,000 (£440 to £740), depending on the complexity of the design, fabric choice and added details. Custom luxury pieces can exceed $1,500.
This may sound expensive but is much cheaper than having a garment custom made in the US – where the cost starts at around $3,500 and can go much higher depending on the designer and materials.
The BBC spoke to five fashion designers in Nigeria and Ghana who, in all, fulfilled more than 2,800 orders for prom dresses during the 2025 season, most of them bound for the US.
Designer Shakirat Arigbabu and her team, based in south-western Nigerian city of Ibadan, were responsible for 1,500 of those.
She has carved out a niche for herself even though the prom tradition is not popular in her country.
“Ninety-eight per cent of dresses we made went to the US. We were working in shifts, just to meet deadlines,” Ms Arigbabu says.
Her business, Keerah’s Fashion Cave, employs 60 full-time staff and at least 130 contract staff have been brought in during peak periods.
Business has also boomed for designer Victoria Ani and her workshop in Uyo, south-eastern Nigeria. She says she has shipped more than 200 gowns to New York, New Jersey and California.
She began tapping into this market in 2022 and now has a team of eight. A single gown takes three to seven days to complete, depending on the design, she says.
Ms Ani believes choosing an African designer is a cultural statement.
However, the new 15% US tariff for goods imported from Nigeria presents an immediate challenge.
“The tariff will increase the cost… making them less competitive in the US market,” the designer says.
While the higher price may reduce sales, she says she is considering making small adjustments, cutting costs, improving efficiency and exploring alternative markets to stay competitive without overburdening her customers.
Another big change will be that instead of operating on the old model, where each dress was crafted only after an order, she plans to transition to a ready-to-wear system, with garments being available to ship immediately.
Affordability is also a key issue – and while cheaper than buying an equivalent piece in the US, a prom dress requires significant financial resources.
As the market is growing in sophistication so are the ways to pay, with designers starting to use online payment plans to spread the cost.
