You may have come across them on your Instagram explore page and you may have spotted them for their uncommon interpretation of fashion in music videos, these guys are faces of what style looks like in the alté scene in Nigeria.
Alté means alternative and it has also been tagged to mean a new class of Naija cool kids that are redefining the artistic landscape with a whole new level of creative and daring appeal to fashion and music.
Upon their arrival in the creative scene in 2018, many on social media received them with not so pleasant embraces as they had been seen as wanting to do too much in a bid to bring about the new cool.
The online urban dictionary had particularly defined them as:
“A group of Nigerian youth who are ahead of the street wear/fashion and music scene in Nigeria. Typically known by their different fashion and alternative music. They usually mingle with people with similar interests to avoid snide remarks about their choices such as fanny packs and how market women use it.”
Despite the somewhat harsh reception they have received, one cannot help but take a quick note of the their fashion styles that strongly differ from the common and widespread standards.
For anyone that has been wondering what fashion looks like in this new school of the cool kids, here are five faces of the alté community and what their fashion and style looks like.
1) Odunsi The Engine
No doubt one of the most popular faces of the community, the young man embodies everything the movement pushes for both in his music and how he appears fashion wise. He was recently a topic of discussion on popular social media platform, Twitter, after he had posted a picture and a user had questioned him, asking if he stepped in custard.
See some of his pictures below and how well he reps the alte.
2) Wavy The Creator
Upon her arrival in the scene, many had pondered what the true gender of the person behind the weird fashion pieces was. The young photographer started off as a photographer before she delved into music and gave a complete representation of the community. Her style is mostly anchored around the androgyny. Not male, not female, just fluidity that translates into a style governed by freedom.
See her pictures below:
3) Teni Makanaki
Although many may not know how the Uyo Meyo crooner made it to this list, the truth is, the singers style which is often characterized with large-sized t shirts, durags, flashy coloured shades is not far-fetched from the corridors of the alté community.
See some of her pictures below:
4) Santi
Santi also known as is an alternative rapper/singer from Nigeria who combines different genres of music to produce his unique sound. The singer is also one of the faces of the alte commuOzzy Bnity in Nigeria. One of his music videos had particularly earned him some good chiding from the online community who had labelled his artistic endeavors as overreaching, because many had found it looking occult.
See some of his photos below:
5) WurID
Another face of the community is American-Nigerian singer and song writer known as WurlD. He is often spotted rocking his signature colored-hair style.
