Rachel Ojuromi first appeared on my Instagram feed in mid March, exuding the kind of charisma that makes your thumb stop in its tracks. In the video, the 22-year-old was dressed in violet capris cut just below the knee, a lime green halter top knotted at the front, plus strappy slingbacks and a striped jumper casually slung around her waist. Stomping through the streets of her native Lagos, the fit check video saw Ojuromi visit a grocery store, pick up some onions from the marke and head-carry a basket of bananas, before being whisked away on the back of a truck. Styled in collaboration with her best friend  Debby Fasingha, the effect was 2006 it-girl meets 2010s maximalism by way of classic Nollywood.

That style story tracked through the rest of her videos too. In other clips, Ojuromi wears faded jeans and a slick biker jacket while shopping for geles, or an ironic weed leaf snapback and chunky wedged trainers. She skateboards in sunshine yellow cut-offs while carrying a crimson electric guitar, while a pink pixie crop and white tank top pays homage to Rihanna’s iconic courtside look from 2014. Ojuromi is a fan of neon colour-blocking, exposed bras and 00s references, but also wears clothes made by Fasingha, who is also a designer. While her fit checks grabbed our attention first, behind the style is a genuine desire to reframe African youth culture through The Process Africa, her platform that documents and spotlights young people in fashion, film and the visual arts.

Below, we chat to Ojuromi about her striking style, how she got into fashion, and why having a close network of collaborators is the best thing for you.

Hi Rachel – First up, can you tell us a bit about who you are?

Rachel Ojuromi: I’m Rachel Ojuromi! I’m 22 and I’m a Nigerian girl through and through, born and raised, hardly left. Lagos is honestly such a big part of who I am – it’s in everything I do. Right now I’m working as an operations intern at Alamode.

Your fit check videos are going viral on Instagram – how did you come up with the idea?

Rachel Ojuromi: A close confidant, Tolu Oye told me to wear this beautiful Meji Meji shirt for a video because she thought it was really my style. But I didn’t want it to come across as basic or underthought, so I actually stalled on making the video until I had on something I felt was truly interesting. And then it just happened. I made [the first video] and it took off.

Were you inspired by Diya Joukani, whose Mumbai reels have recently gone viral?

Rachel Ojuromi: Funny story actually, I had no idea about her videos! Because I didn’t have phone storage and had to delete a lot of apps including TikTok, but my friend sent them to me and said we had a similar vibe. But I love her, she’s really cool. I think it’s kind of beautiful that two girls in completely different cities arrived at something so similar just by being themselves.

“I work with my best friend and honestly one of the greatest designers out there, Debby Fasingha. We have a long history of going to the market and thrifting” – Rachel Ojuromi

Your own looks feel very nostalgic, but there’s also a freshness to them too. What are the ideas behind them, and who do you work with on the styling?

Rachel Ojuromi: I work with my best friend and honestly one of the greatest designers out there, Debby Fasingha. We have a long history of going to the market and thrifting, sitting and watching runway shows together, so the videos are really just us trying to share everything we’ve seen and loved with everyone else. It feels very natural because it comes from a genuine place. Some of the looks are pulled straight from our own wardrobes, and some are made by Debby.

What African brands are you wearing in the videos that you want to shout out?

Rachel Ojuromi: First and foremost, a massive shout out to Yaba Market. Half of what you’re seeing in those videos is thrifted from there, and I’ve been going there since forever. So to suddenly have a global audience appreciating clothes from Yaba is just the most beautiful thing to me. Also, huge love to the Instagram thrift store girlies. Shout out to Hemntzang, The Stunner Vintage and Thrift Genius specifically. They’ve made thrifting so much more accessible and I think they deserve all their flowers. And of course Debby, who makes some of the pieces herself. She’s incredible.

What story or message about Lagos are you hoping to convey through the videos?

Rachel Ojuromi: That you can have a voice and share your work with the world regardless of the resources you have. We aren’t just silly kids who know nothing. This is us telling the world that there are kids in Africa absorbing the exact same influences as everyone else, caring just as deeply about art and fashion, just without all the resources. Despite that, we can make the world shake with what we have. I hope every African kid takes this seriously and sees that this is a moment.

Can you tell me about The Process Africa?

Rachel Ojuromi: The Process Africa is a platform I built three years ago with one core mission to make sure every young African creative knows that they are valued. That’s not just in the end result, or the viral moment or the finished collection, but the process itself. We celebrate the journey of becoming who you are as a creative person, because I think so many young African creatives are out here doing incredible things and not being told that their stories matter.

So it’s not just about posting outfits, but helping other young Africans too?

Rachel Ojuromi: That has always been my driving force, genuinely. I remember being 10 years old and telling people I was going to adopt kids from every single African country. I’m laughing about it now, but I think The Process Africa is exactly that dream in a different form. It’s about creating a safe space for all the cool kids across Africa so that no matter what craziness is going on around them, they know if they call me, I’m coming.

And I try to live that out even now with limited resources. I literally open my home to people to sleep, hang out, do creative work. If you look through my Finsta, rachelshouse, you’ll see pictures of all of us just hanging out. The house also doubles as a location for shoots because finding spaces to shoot in Lagos can be really difficult.

What’s your background in fashion?

Rachel Ojuromi: Honestly, my mum is my entire background in fashion. She’s incredibly stylish, has always sold clothes and accessories, and she used to dress my brothers and I up – I think I just absorbed it from her from a really young age.

There were always magazines and books around the house because she made a point of keeping up with fashion culture, so I was flicking through those constantly. It was never really a conscious decision to get into fashion, it just always has been around me. It’s kind of all I’ve ever known.

Who is in your fashion network? And why is having one so important?

Rachel Ojuromi: It’s Debby, my best friend and designer; Odey Ikpa who shoots everything; Whak and Mo Nyong, my biggest confidants, and Abdullahi Ali, my friend and collaborator. They’re not industry contacts, they’re my people, and I think that’s exactly why having a network matters, particulatly when it’s built on genuine relationships rather than transactions.. I think a lot of young creatives underestimate that your network isn’t about who’s the most connected or the most famous, but about finding your people who believe in the vision as deeply as you do.

You’ve been in Dazed before, when we featured you as part of our Coolest Kids at Lagos Fashion Week SS24. How have you changed since then?

Rachel Ojuromi: Honestly? I’m still the same girl. That was my first year at Lagos Fashion Week and I actually posted on my story beforehand that I was only going to wear thrifted pieces and items from my wardrobe, because I wanted to prove that the heavy brands were irrelevant and that true style was all that mattered. And then that girl ended up in Dazed. I think that says everything.