Co-founder and Artistic Director for Ghana’s streetwear fashion brand ‘Free The Youth,’ Jonathan Coffie popularly known as Joey Lit has shared the brand’s fascinating journey and inspiration behind the name.
In an exclusive interview with the team on Y 107.9 FM’s Myd Morning Radio Show with host, Rev Erskine, Joey Lit indicated that the group were motivated to empower Ghanaian youth. However, they needed to empower themselves individually through fashion to reach various communities.
According to Joey, Free The Youth started as a group of friends who shared a love for fashion. “We started by posting ourselves on social media after we took pictures from nice locations and gradually met Kweku and Shace (both co-founder) along the road and instantly became a brotherhood,” he said. “We later thought to form Free The Youth and at a point our style was really getting loud and loved by people on Facebook but we were still in school, living in our parents’ houses.”
Joey recounted that the idea to start a fashion brand came when they realized a lot of people online showed interest in what they did and hence thought it wise to recreate more of such content and sell.
“The idea developed as we realized people loved what we put out there so we were like why not sell our style to them since they love it. We made a couple of t-shirts which went at a loss because we wanted to give it to some artistes to put them on for photos and stuff like that but they never returned it,” he added.
Despite the initial setback, Free The Youth continued to grow and evolve. “We first made a few collections and later made another set but gradually the vision changed. We felt that it was bigger than just fashion. It was just about we feeling so different and wanted to empower ourselves before we empower communities so then we named ourselves Free The Youth,” Joey mentioned.
The brand’s focus on empowerment is reflected in its fashion designs. “When you see me wearing baggy jeans at the time without a long sleeve or something and you ask me where I’m from, I tell you I’m from Free The Youth and it sounded off for some people at the time,” Joey revealed. “But it’s not just about the clothes. It’s about empowering young people to be themselves, to express themselves through fashion, and to make a difference in their communities.”
Today, Free The Youth is a thriving fashion brand that empowers young people through fashion. “We want to inspire the youth to be themselves and to take action in their communities,” Joey said. “Fashion is just the starting point for us. We believe that fashion can be a powerful tool for change and we want to use it to make a positive impact in the world.”
The brand earlier announced its 2023 USA tour set to commence on April 28 at Virginia Beach and end on June 11 in Los Angeles.
Catch us at the Something In The Water festival this weekend 28th-30th April, in Virginia Beach. 🇺🇸
We are official merch designers for this year’s edition, and we are bringing a unique blend of Ghanaian 🇬🇭 culture in Fashion, Music and Arts.
See you! pic.twitter.com/K9sPYpmdmc
— FREE THE YOUTH (@freetheyouth_gh) April 26, 2023
By: Jude Tackie
