Africa’s biggest fashion market Thrift Social is celebrating its 4th year anniversary with a Tie & Dye theme at the GoDown Arts Centre, Nairobi (Sunday 9th June 2019).
An ode to the legacy of the fashion fad prevalent with the rise of counterculture of the 60s and 70s, the theme captures the spirit of the event’s humble ascent from its modest backyard market days, to reshaping Kenya’s creative art and fashion scene through its curatorial showcase.
The afternoon long market will be an immersive fashion experience striving to foster opportunities and possibilities within the Kenyan creative ecosystem.
The artist line up this year reflects a blend of sounds, starkly distinct but all denoting the market’s consistent focus on featuring innovative, progressive, and up and coming artistes.
British rapper-singer IAMDDB—the “Shade” hitmaker with a fierce blend of soulful hip hop, pounding trap and swirling urban jazz, will headline alongside an eclectic Kenyan lot including soulful R&B singer Karun, the Lianne Le Havas-esque vocal stunner Wanja Wohoro, to mood-setting DJs: Mix Master Lenny, TAIO and Shishi.
Coinciding with the 4th year milestone will be an all curated Thrift Store and a Vitimbi fashion installation by one of the founders of Thrift Social - Oliver Asike.
Vitimbi is his first fashion brand that draws a lot of inspiration from the city’s street culture, government, middle class and low-income communities.
The stylist-cum-designer will through his Vitimbi installation introduce his fashion venture set to reimagine Kenya’s apparel scene to Thrifters onboard.
His unique approach upcycles second hand clothing and recycled fabrics to make new garments.
The underlying vision is to transform Vitimbi into Africa’s first slow fashion streetwear brand through the continent’s long held narrative of sustainability.
About Thrift Social
Thrift Social event series was founded in 2015 by brother and sister combo cum style entrepreneurs, Oliver Asike and Velma Rossa as a platform for the exploration of fashion, visual art and music in a bid to inspire innovation in Kenya’s vibrant and multi–faceted creative industry.
The market invites fashion and style enthusiasts to shop from a curated selection of the city’s cutting edge vendors, attracting a plethora of creatives from fashion enterprises, designers, photographers, stylists, models, art directors and other fashion actors in the Kenyan fashion ecosystem.
2Manysiblings is a brother and sister team curating transitional African narratives.
The duo launched their Tumblr platform in 2013 (and subsequently to IG) that has seen their horizons grow from sharing their looks online to acting as muses for local photographers to now becoming the voice of Kenya’s youth.
In 2016 they participated in the Yale’s Africa Salon and co-hosted a party with Everyday People. Oliver Asike has styled a host of top Kenyan artists including Sauti Sol, Fena and Elani while Velma has had stints working with the Ethical Fashion Initiative, Karen Walker and AFI fashion weeks.
The duo also toured the city with legendary American Hip Hop heavyweight Yasiin Bey during his maiden Nairobi visit.
IAMDDB is a UK rapper and singer from Manchester. Her music is a blend of soulful hip-hop, pounding trap and swirling urban jazz.
With over 20 Million streams on Spotify, she has sold out concerts and headlined tours across the UK and Europe and just recently supported Lauryn Hill on her European tour. A nominee for BBC’s Sound of 2018, her music video for “Shade” has so far garnered over 24 Million views on YouTube.
In 2018, IAMDDB starred in the new Tommy Hilfiger 90’s inspired jeans campaign.
