In This Nigerian Market, Younger Ladies Discover a Place of Their Personal

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 may be promoting baskets of recent fruit, wheelbarrows filled with cellphone instances, piles of sequined materials or racks of second-hand garments.

For those who’re fortunate, you may 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 good of the cool children of Lagos. These skaters, usually clad in a uniform of dishevelled pants and crop tops, head to the market to go thrifting every week. They’re armed with style data solely the younger, enjoyable and decided can possess and search out 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 individuals 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 seaside, they’ve traced their very own map of the town.

“I attempted to search for one,” she stated, referring to a bunch through which she felt at dwelling, “after which I stated, let me simply construct my very own. Not only for me, however for different individuals like me that additionally need a neighborhood like this however don’t know how one can go about it.”