Event Recap: JOLLOF-OFF with YOUTH SERVICE presented by Bodega and Air Jordan
“If you want to go fast go alone but if you want to go far go together.”
On Friday, March 31st at our Downtown LA store, we celebrated the launch of the Jordan Skyline, a sneaker offering insight into scale and community as opposed to individuality. And with these themes central, who better to host the party than our friends over at Youth Service?
Founded by first-generation Ghanaian American K.O. Asante and first-generation Nigerian Americans Obiora Anozie, and Ebichi Nduka, Youth Service is a creative agency that channels the trio’s belief in communal greatness to pull off culturally rich and universally inclusive events in the Greater Los Angeles area.
With the goal of sharing their experiences as first-generation immigrants in the U.S. as well as growing their village within and beyond LA, for the Skyline launch, Youth Service figured food was the best way to bring people together - and they weren’t wrong. Hosting a “Jollof Off”, focused around 3 types of the staple West African rice dish, the aroma filled the store and got people through the door. And although it was supposed to be a contest, with all 3 types gone in a flash, it’s fair to say they were all winners.
In the background, our screen printing presses were whirring, going full speed to churn out commemorative co-branded tees for the event while the AJ1 itself tied everything together. Given its own private room with a custom build-out, the sneaker, which highlighted the gradient of the Chicago Skyline in MJ’s famous ’85 shoot, is cool to see on a singular level but is truly inspiring when displayed in numbers.
And doesn’t that tie things together nicely? With lore around the community and its impact on Jordan’s success in the NBA, from the people at Nike who believed in him from the beginning to his family who advocated for him to make a revolutionary deal - it might only be Michael making that iconic dunk as the sun sets, but it's a whole support system that let him know, the sky was the limit.
