FREE THE YOUTH PORTFOLIO
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• Envisioned by Johnathan Coffie in 2013, FREE THE YOUTH is a collective of young creatives determined to empower Ghanaian and all African youth to connect to Art scenes around the world, with Ghanaian inspired Street-style fashion and Culture.
• While the initial goal was to showcase Ghanaian street-style via social media, FREE THE YOUTH has developed into a multi-branched company; The Fashion brand, the Creative Agency and the NGO. All of these components are working towards the grand goal of facilitating Art-based, youth oriented charitable work.
• The NGO has designed a creative hub called FREE THE YOUTH INSTITUTE. This space, equipped with technological tools, networking opportunities, mentorship, personal development, future literacy labs, and anti- oppression based curriculum, is designed to allow Ghanaian youth to incubate and build sustainable opportunities from their own ideas.
2 THE BRAND
• FREE THE YOUTH’s first collection went into production late 2015, with T-shirts and sweatshirts showcasing the simple Brand title across the chest and the message “this is pain printed on cotton” at the back.
• Showcasing at Accra Fashion Week 2017, a buzz was created with high demand for the product. The brand became even more popular by local artists including B4Bonah and Amaarae wearing the shirts, the positive response encouraged the Free the Youth team to continue creating. Ghetto University of Tema was the second collection from Free the Youth, worn by many popular artists in Ghana, including BET nominee for Best International Act, Kwesi Arthur. Subsequent collections followed as the brand grew with collaborations from other brands and organizations.
3 4 5 THE CREATIVE AGENCY
• As a grassroots collective of youth focused on inspiring local youths to connect to a Global Art & Design Scene, FREE THE YOUTH partners with Local and international brands, agencies, organizations and entities that share the same passion as the brand.
• FREE THE YOUTH designs and produce Clothing & accessories, curate and facilitate events and activations that empower the youth in Arts and Cultural experiences.
• FREE THE YOUTH also partners with brands, agencies and organizations to create authentic Street-style content for local and global consumption.
6 THE NGO
• Given the prohibitive cost of higher education, combined with the lack of traditional job opportunities in Ghana, Ghana’s youth are facing a challenging socio-economic future. Youth unemployment in Sub-Saharan Africa, already at relatively high levels, stands to potentially increase as the population is projected to grow significantly by 2040. The combined systemic effects of future uncertainties (eg. climate change, automation, the future of work, artificial intelligence, etc.) mean that Ghana’s youth are at tipping point, a reality that is not adequately addressed by the current social, political, and economic discourses.
• FREE THE YOUTH’s founder recognized the need for innovative spaces for youth to imagine and build their own preferred futures. The ultimate goal is to provide free and accessible alternative educational programs to marginalized youth that empowers them to create any Art of their choice, their own markets, economic opportunities, and career trajectories.
7 WORKSHOPS
8 FREE THE YOUTH & GLOBAL UNITED DIASPORA
• FREE THE YOUTH and Global United Diaspora, a Non profit organization in Washington DC, USA collaborated on a workshop program to take youths through the Art of designing and printing shirts, music production and DJ’ing as an Art.
• The two day workshop covered everything from discussions and training in screen- printing, complex and simple designs to music production from renowned Ghanaian producer KaysofromTema, a DJ masterclass by Los Angeles based DJ Blaq Pages and Dj Mike Abrantea.
9 10 FREE THE FUTURE WORKSHOP
• Free the Future Workshop, moderated by DEP Africa Depafrica.org and Free the Youth, emphasized on the problems Ghanaian Youth face today and its implications in the year 2040. The main objective of this workshop was to get first hand insight from Ghanaian Youths on the growing issues that need critical thinking to address and how solutions can be built from those problems over the next 20 years.
• The Workshop saw 7 youths engage in identifying problems on the growing Unemployment rate, Artificial intelligence, Pollution & Corruption; how these problems affect the Youth and finding solutions in the near future.
11 12 COLLABORATIONS AND FEATURES
13 FREE THE YOUTH & NIKE, FOOTLOCKER EU
14 • Footlocker and Nike EU teamed up with FREE THE YOUTH for the global launch and release campaign for Nike Shox Sneaker. As future forward shape shifters, FREE THE YOUTH shared the passion behind our creative design and production process, street-style culture and how we express our truest selves through unique style and imagination.
• The first campaign of it’s kind in West Africa, Footlocker EU and Nike wanted to share in the same message FREE THE YOUTH stands for, one that shares the same passion and authenticity as the Nike Shox.
• The campaign emphasized on the same story we’ve been telling with FREE THE YOUTH; do you!
15 16 17 FREE THE YOUTH & SONY MUSIC
• SONY Music in conjunction with RCA Records, Amazon Music, SONY music West Africa, Melanin Unscripted, Columbia UK and FREE THE YOUTH teamed up to create Sony Music’s first-ever event in West Africa
• The event featured game-changing panel talk titled “Africa to the world” with conversations on breaking African Music globally. The event had a questions and answers session with Afrobeats superstars Davido and Amaarae as well as other major industry players.
• FREE THE YOUTH curated an on-sight station to produce customized T-shirts and accessories for attendees.
18 19 20 FREE THE YOUTH & DAILY PAPER CLOTHING
• Daily Paper clothing collaborated for a conversation with FREE THE YOUTH on Ghanaian Street-style fashion and culture. Both fashion houses shared insights on challenges and influences from streetwear culture.
• A question and answers session was held to highlight connections between Streetwear culture in The Netherlands and Ghanaian streetwear culture, which saw team members from both brands share insightful ideas and answers to and from the audience.
• The Accra girls Soccer tournament also held at the Schools soccer field saw FREE THE YOUTH play against other teams including Daily Paper clothing, La meme Gang, Starboy FC etc. FREE THE YOUTH emerged as overall winners of the tournament.
21 22 FREE THE YOUTH & THE FADER MAGAZINE
• FREE THE YOUTH featured on The Fader magazine’s “GHANA IS NOW” article. The article shed light on a fresh youth driven creative class that is being established in Ghana, thanks to artists like Darkovibes, Amaarae and Free the youth’s founder, Joey.
• “Outside of music, a new class of tastemakers in Ghana’s fashion scene are connecting culture and design. Fashion designers like Joey Lit started his streetwear label and creative collective Free The Youth in his hometown of Ghana’s harbor city Tema — 45 minutes outside of Accra — to put African streetwear on the map. The collective has been featured on platforms like Vogue for their tasteful approach to design that celebrates streetwear and youth culture in Ghana. “We have to praise Africa more than we praise other cultures,” Joey says as we walk through Tema’s Community 6 neighborhood “That’s how the world will appreciate us as artists and influencers.”
• Read more at; https://www.thefader.com/2019/12/04/ ghana-scene-profile-darovibes-amaarae-joey-lit
23 FREE THE YOUTH & VOGUE MAGAZINE
• “FREE THE YOUTH is Ghana’s number 1 Streetwear brand” A feature on Vogue magazine on the influence and style of FREE THE YOUTH as a brand and creative style collective.
• Read more at; https://www.vogue.com/ vogueworld/article/
24 FREE THE YOUTH & NATAAL MAGAZINE
• “London photographer Will Grundy travelled to Accra to shoot Free The Youth and their family of friends. Now a streetwear brand, agency and NGO, their positivity instantly spoke to Grundy in the short time they spent together. “I was drawn to the D.I.Y nature of what they do and the heart that goes into it,” he says. “They are a tight knit group with something really interesting to say about their culture.”
• Read more at; http://nataal.com/free-the- youth
25 26 FREE THE YOUTH GHANA
@Freetheyouth_ghana
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