In its 7th year, the convention has evolved into a global platform, supporting and elevating fashion entrepreneurs worldwide.

"Detty December in Nigeria can't be complete without attending Street Souk. I decided to showcase my brand at Street Souk 2024 because I heard about it from a lot of people. I heard it makes a lot of sales and I can testify that it did because I sold out in a couple of hours. It is a great platform for people to market their brand and share their good work to everybody." This is from the owner of Y2K Baddie brand, one of the numerous clothing brands who showcased her collection at Street Souk. Y2K Baddie caters to women who love the feeling of nostalgia. This was just one of the various testimonies from brands who exhibited their products at the street convention.

The Nigerian streetwear scene is thriving, with locally-produced fashion gaining recognition and disrupting the status quo in a market valued at over $1 billion. Young innovators are leading this evolution and drawing global attention to African street fashion. At the forefront of this movement is Street Souk; an annual street culture event from the creative mind of Iretidayo Zaccheaus. The 25-year-old Nigerian entrepreneur, inspired by her mother's fashion events in 2018, reimagined the concept to cater to a fresh demographic. Seeking a space where Nigerian owned brands could showcase themselves and take ownership of their brilliant works while seeing the gap between locally made brands and consumers, Ireti's answer was Street Souk.

For Y2K Baddie, an ambitious vendor, Street Souk would become a pivotal first experience. Acting on enthusiastic recommendations, she took a leap of faith and secured a stall at the convention. Armed with over a hundred of her best pieces - previously sold exclusively online - plus her signature swagger, a POS machine and two supportive friends, she made her way to Harbour Point in Victoria Island, Lagos ready to join the vibrant community of street fashion entrepreneurs. The first convention was held in December in Lagos and over the years, the convention has slowly grown into a space where businesses, particularly small ones like Y2K Baddie, have an opportunity to showcase their collections, build networks and make sales.

Street Souk encourages originality as most brand owners premier their collections there for the first time. It also helps brand development, encouraging interactions with like minded people who can give feedback and insights on their collections. Every year, the convention boasts of a yearly gathering of lovers of fashion, style, skate culture, food and music. Now in its seventh edition, the convention keeps getting better in terms of organization and audience. Starting with just 40 designers and 1,500 attendees, it has grown to presenting more than 60 brands, food and drinks inclusive and over 6,000 attendees from all over the continent. The convention has also moved beyond Lagos, to places like Abuja and London, where it showcases popular brands like Mowalola, Ashluxe, WafflesnCream now (Waf), Rahmajago, Daily Paper along the way. The appeal of the convention is how inclusive it is, as people of different ages from different backgrounds and experiences come together to have a good time, network and support businesses that they love.

This year, Street Souk extended beyond mainstream fashion labels, featuring a diverse array of accessories including bags and shoes. It also provided a platform for emerging brands to present their collections to a global audience. These brands include; handmade bag brand, "Bayii", "IXI Label", "234 by Vondidi", "If You Leave Me I Will Be Scared", "Active Worldwide", "Nine", "Hasim", "Sapphirebyo", "RetroAddicts", "WWMBOF" and "Gem'd Studio," a brand that deals with dental glam(tooth gems). Among notable brands at the convention were "WafflesNCream", "Severe Nature", "Studio Bonita", "Beauty Hut", "Loners Party", "NBDA", "Guilty Youth", "Prudence", "DxD", among many others.

Street Souk has evolved into a vibrant melting pot of fashion innovation, where creative visionaries unite and collaborate. Through this platform, Nigerian youth are redefining fashion norms with groundbreaking designs that showcase their boundless creativity. And this creative renaissance had caught the attention of major fashion industry players, leading to notable collaborations with brands and figures like the late Virgil Abloh; former artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear, Homecoming, Off-White, Daily Paper, Motherlan, and Places + Faces. Indeed, the convention has evolved into more than just a marketplace for established brands showcasing premium collections - it has become a sanctuary where young people can shop, connect, and express themselves authentically without judgment. Given Zacchaeus's ambitious vision for Africa's streetwear culture and Street Souk's impressive trajectory, the convention promises even more groundbreaking developments in the future.