Nairobi Youth, Subculture and Fashion with Papa Petit

Over the years Nairobi’s vibrancy has been dictated by youth culture. There almost seems to be a relationship between youth, music, style and identity. Seemingly unnoticed, Nairobi has been a breeding ground for subculture or co-culture as some may put it.

The youth want to be differentiated from the rest by their lifestyle preferences and how they look like. The late 90s for example, was characterized by ‘THE OB’ subculture. The name ob was used by the upper class society to describe the urban youth who wore skinny jeans, Sahara boots, kangol hearts and listened to reggae music and who majority were from the lower class society. Floral shirts and baseball hats were commonly worn by ‘THE OB’ as seen below.

Their style was not the only factor that made them stand out. The ob were notoriously known for being involved in all manner of civil strife. They would rob people after concerts and family fun days, involved in school strikes and looting. The ob culture over the years gradually declined and disappeared. Though they have been other subcultures like ‘The Babie’ who were youth who wore baggy clothes, timberland boots, listened to hip hop music and influenced by the West. The United States to be specific. However this subculture was not as dominant as the ‘ob’ subculture.

More recently this decade has seen an upsurge of a new subculture of the Nairobi youth aged between 15-25. They are more fashion conscious and are referred to as the ‘fashionistas’ or ‘designer’ as their subculture. They want to be seen wearing the latest fashion labels and tend to hangout with their peers in social events and shopping malls on weekends doing photo shoots.

This culture has had led to an increase in fashion blogs, events and has encouraged the local design businesses of which these variables have all contributed positively to Kenya’s fashion industry in general. By collaborating fashion, street culture and photography.

 

 

These aspects have contributed to a growth in the complimentary photography culture as well. As we move forward into the future, the phenomena of sub cultures will always influence the youth and that will in turn reflect on the vibrancy of Nairobi as a city.

by Papa Petit

Papa Petit is part of the brother and sister fashion stylist dynamo, ‘2ManySiblings’ that is sweeping the globe with their unique eye for the ultimate a la mode trends.