In This Nigerian Market, Young Women Find a Place of Their Own
On the bustling Yaba Market in Lagos, Nigeria, there’s something for everybody.
Chatter rises from the merchants, whose stalls sprawl over miles of cracked grey concrete and packed earth. They is likely to be promoting baskets of contemporary fruit, wheelbarrows filled with telephone circumstances, piles of sequined materials or racks of second-hand garments.
If you happen to’re fortunate, you would possibly discover a classic jacket you’ve been looking for, or a pair of long-lasting Levi’s denims. However you’re by no means going to be as fortunate as Dencity: the best of the cool children of Lagos. These skaters, typically clad in a uniform of dishevelled pants and crop tops, head to the market to go thrifting every week. They’re armed with trend information solely the younger, enjoyable and decided can possess and hunt down the most effective streetwear they will discover.
Based by 26-year-old Blessing Ewona in 2020 in response to the dearth of areas for younger queer folks and feminine skaters in Nigeria, Dencity skate, dream and thrift collectively. From their journeys to the market to common skate meet-ups on the dilapidated Nationwide Stadium or Tarkwa Bay seashore, they’ve traced their very own map of the town.
“I attempted to search for one,” she mentioned, referring to a gaggle by which she felt at residence, “after which I mentioned, let me simply construct my very own. Not only for me, however for different folks like me that additionally desire a group like this however don’t know how you can go about it.”
