Nigerian fashion designer Samuel Chinecherem Ezeh has officially entered the Guinness World Records after setting a new record for creating the longest sleeve ever made, a groundbreaking feat that highlights both innovation and Africa’s growing influence in global fashion.
According to a statement by Guinness World Records, Samuel Chinecherem Ezeh designed and sewed the longest sleeves on a garment, at an astonishing 51.20 metres (167.97 ft) long. That’s longer than the Statue of Liberty is high (46.5 m; 152.5 ft) and longer than an Olympic-size swimming pool (50 m; 164 ft).
Samuel, 27, who works as a fashion designer and tailor while studying at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, had to overcome a lot to make the garment. And now, he wants it to be seen around the world. He told us: “I wish to take it on a tour to display it in different countries and cities to show the world what it looks like.” It took Samuel less than four hours to design and create his record-breaking robe, but it was far from easy. On the day of his attempt in February 2024, Samuel’s sewing machine broke down. The needle broke after hitting a hard part of material and he realized he didn’t have any spares.
He had to move over to his backup sewing machine, but the needle on that one broke too. “At this point I felt like crying,” Samuel confessed. “I called the attention of my supervisor and he sent someone to fetch a pack of needles, after some minutes I got a new pack, I installed it and continued.” He was so tense that he did something incorrectly while trying to fix the machine. After some more help from his supervisor, Samuel managed to install the needle correctly and get back to sewing. Funding the project was also tough for Samuel, who struggled to find brands to sponsor him. He ended up funding 70% of the cost himself. Samuel, who started learning how to sew after taking on an apprenticeship during secondary school, launched his own clothing brand, Eco Collection World of Beauty, in 2020.
Explaining what spurred him on to attempt a record, he said: “I’m the kind of person that does things in a big way, I have always wanted the world to know me, especially for what I do, for my fashion skill. “I want to have a big clothing brand. And I’m still working towards that. I want to be a rich famous fashionista.” To create the garment, Samuel used 62 yards of jampard material – two yards for the body and 60 for the sleeves. On finding out he’d officially broken the record, he said: “I opened the mail and read it, I was smiling on the road and felt like dancing on the road, I turned and went back to the house. I screamed at my voice, I made it!” Samuel hopes his record journey will inspire others to believe in themselves the way he did.
