Since starting Street Souk 6 years ago, Ireti Zaccheaus has had her foot on the gas pedal, accelerating towards world domination. Though, originally, all she wanted was to create a platform for young people in Lagos, where they could celebrate street fashion and exist exactly as they were. Now transcending Lagos, Street Souk has become a community in different pockets of the world, evidence of what happens when all the stars align.
The inspiration for Street Souk first came to Zaccheaus in August 2018, while attending one of her mother’s events. The thought process was simple “How can I replicate what my mother has established, for my demographic?” Yewande Zaccheaus, proprietor of one of the leading event planning companies in Nigeria, Eventful, was a few years into curating bespoke events that made commerce fun. Her platforms, Fashion Souk, Beauty Souk, and Food Souk were fairs that brought together emerging and successful entrepreneurs to connect and their target market was one of them.
This model of business is what Street Souk is built upon—a bridge between businesses and consumers, with the crucial element of community. Zaccheaus already loved fashion, “It was just my way of expressing my individuality and learning how to put things together.” Although she had other interests in music, pop culture, and entertainment, she possessed neither the skill nor interest in singing or rapping but quickly realized that fashion connected them all.
Growing up alongside a brother who possessed musical and creative talent was instrumental to Zaccheaus’ development. Unlike Zacchaeus who did not have musical leanings, Teezee had established himself in the Nigerian music scene, as one-third of the DRB Las Gidi collective. Her proximity to that community and the overflow of creativity became a driving force in the trajectory of Zaccheaus’ life. Her family was the foundation upon which she sought to build a truly impactful business. Her hard work and entrepreneurial traits from her mother, business ethics and goodwill from her father, and creativity from her brother, make the golden trifecta.
Before the late 2010s, it was seen as uncool to own clothing made in Nigeria. Then, streetwear brands were almost nonexistent, and outfits available for sale within the country were either sourced from foreign countries or were used clothing sold in open markets referred to as “bend down select.” When Nigerian streetwear brands like WAF and Modus Vivendii emerged, they aimed to address the wide gap in the Nigerian fashion market. However, their reach did not go beyond their immediate community and friends. Zaccheaus happens to be a member of that community, so when the idea to start Street Souk was planted, it became an opportunity to solve a problem that affected the people closest to her. Not only did this connect these brands to a wider audience, it became a place for young people to converge and freely express themselves.
The first edition of Street Souk happened during the festive period in December 2018, a time of reprieve to signify the end of the year and a homecoming for several Nigerians who schooled or did business abroad. As the first streetwear convention in Nigeria, the stakes were low for Zaccheaus. Her ideas were novel, there was no pressure to exceed any record as she was only just setting the foundation for what would be built upon. Speaking about the process of setting it up she said, “2018 was much simpler. There were no expectations so whatever I did would have been good enough, honestly. I was formulating this thing that hadn’t existed where I was so I was working on a blank canvas. I could have done it however I’d liked and it probably would have been accepted the same way because there was nothing to compare it to.” The streetwear community trusted the vision Zaccheaus had in 2018 because in attendance were over 30 brands, yearning for a new era in the industry. As trust grew, so did Street Souk-, now fielding applications from 600 brands – a testament to the growth the streetwear community has seen in 6 years.
Back in 2020, Zacchaeus stumbled upon her biggest collaboration with a fashion industry icon, someone she considered the god of streetwear fashion, Virgil Abloh. To fashion enthusiasts, Abloh remains an inspiration who consistently broke down barriers and advocated for the success of young black people. Away from the strides made in fashion and design, he made it his purpose to inspire people he came across. It was in this vein that he reached out to Zacchaeus after they both spoke on a panel organized by Homecoming on the role Africa plays in the continuous evolution of streetwear. Getting a message from Abloh saying “Yo, I love what you’re doing, it’s so inspiring, we should connect” was world tilting for Zaccheaus “I thought I was dreaming, bro. I was like what the hell is going on? At the moment, just rising up to it, you’re texting Virgil Abloh back like you’re texting one of your friends.” Abloh expressed his interest in collaborating with Street Souk and although Zaccheaus’ experience with other big names in the industry made her skeptical, the mere satisfaction of her idol contacting her was enough, “I’ve been around a lot of OGs. I’ve been around a lot of people who say things so I was like, “yeah, man, totally cool.” but Abloh was different. Before she knew it, he was following up and sharing designs with her, and thus, a Street Souk and Off White collaboration was born. The collaboration saw a limited edition t-shirt dedicated to celebrating young Nigerian women. Abloh’s support scaled the extent of what Zaccheaus proposed and made her realize the impact she could create if she took herself more seriously. “I feel like that was the beginning of something for me as Iretidayo Zaccheaus and Street Souk as well.”
Street Souk’s impact became glaring to Zaccheaus during a club night in Lagos. She noticed what would usually have been a crowd of people wearing foreign brands like Off-White, Louis Vuitton, Supreme or Palace was now a crowd of people wearing Nigerian streetwear brands. “I looked around me and everyone was pretty much in a Nigerian brand, including my friends, people I didn’t know, the DJ, people on other tables and I was just like, oh shit this is real, we’ve changed the culture of how people buy things.” Her assertion is right, Street Souk was shifting the streetwear culture in Lagos, changing the perception of Nigerian Streetwear brands from uncool to trendy while also giving visibility to these brands.
The community fostered around Street Souk was paramount to Zaccheaus “I think community is the most important thing to me because I was raised in a community. Even just from how I got my creative identity was as a result of the community I was in then.” She also realized that creating a long-lasting business would not be possible without the community of people and brands to keep it relevant. Support from personalities in the entertainment industry and collaborations with Nigerian brands have woven Street Souk into a core part of the youth experience. Recently, it collaborated with Free The Youth to create jerseys, which have received all the rave and have been worn by the likes of Asake and legendary football player, Jay Jay Okocha – who wore it to the Nigerian Super Eagles and South African Bafana Bafana semi-finals AFCON match. When asked what collaboration means to her, she shares “I guess I learned that from Virgil. He always said our collaboration was just so important. In business school as well, being able to collaborate is also a way of growing. You know, if you collaborate with the brand in a different country, you’re increasing your awareness there and they’re increasing their awareness here. There’s something good that comes out of two people or multiple people doing things together.”
Years of hard work, being a student of the game and constantly learning, prepared Zaccheaus to approach her biggest feat yet; the Street Souk tour. At the start of 2023, while mapping out plans for the year, a tour was one of the things she set out to execute. She had no idea how to pull it off, but the traction Street Souk was gaining in other locations presented a good opportunity to visit those places. After three to four months’ worth of work, two months of manifestation, and three months of execution, the tour was underway. It started in Lagos in December and spanned 6 more cities including Dubai, Cape Town, London, Los Angeles, Abuja, and Accra. It was a huge success. The colorful and invigorating energy of Street Souk was replicated in those cities. Young supporters showed up for the street fashion fair packed with the coolest brands, people, and exciting music. Zacchaeus was able to connect with a diverse group of supporters and understand the global desire for the young to feel empowered and exist in a safe space.
During the tour, her business mindset was also piqued, not only was she having a great time, she was also observing how consumer behaviors differed across different cities and how to tell the business’s story in a way that would resonate in those markets. With an inquisitive mind and an educational background which consists of a Business Finance and Economics degree from the University of Manchester and Marketing Strategy and Innovation at Bayes Business School, Zaccheaus is always thinking steps ahead. From the way she communicates, it is obvious she spends time observing how things work. She attributes this to always being around older and intelligent people and the environment she was raised in.
Despite these gains, Zaccheaus’ mind is always on the next thing. Touring in 7 cities is great, but for her, it means the next plan is to do 14. “That’s kind of how my mind works. It’s always kind of like you can’t relax and jubilate. It’s like bro, and what? What’s next? That’s what I care about. That’s how the world works.” Street Souk happens every December, and every moment leading to the event is filled with Zaccheaus building blocks to create a phenomenal experience. 2024 holds big plans for the young entrepreneur, and we’re just going to wait and see what records she breaks next.
