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Updated: Jan 13, 2021
Powerhouses Daily Paper and Off-White™ join forces with social collective Surf Ghana and spatial design studio Limbo Accra to create Freedom Skate Park, Ghana’s very first fully functional skate park in the heart of Accra. As part of their Beyond The Return pop-up in Ghana, Daily Paper is releasing a capsule collection with Surf Ghana next to an exclusive collaborative tee with Off-White™ that will be available for sale with 100% of the proceeds going to the construction of the skatepark. One of only 10 skateparks in all of Africa, Freedom Skate Park plans to begin construction in the first quarter of 2021 and open later that year — ushering in a new day in African sport and creative life.
A Collaboration Between Global Diasporic Visionaries
The capsule collections will make their debut at Daily Paper’s pop-up store in Accra, Ghana on December 21, 2020, with a global release to follow on dailypaperclothing.com on January 15, 2021. The collaboration will kick off with Daily Paper going into a conversation with Surf Ghana's founder Sandy Alibo, co-director Joshua Odamtten and Limbo Accra’s founder Dominique Petit Frère. Co-hosted by Stories of Young founder Ashlee Janelle, they will discuss the collaboration with Daily Paper, the initiatives of Surf Ghana, and the unveiling of the skate park as a defining moment.
"With this initiative, we hope to evolve the skate culture in Ghana to the next level and give locals a platform to grow their talents within a space that will hopefully become their biggest training ground to date. More than board sports, the park will be a creative hub for young Ghanaians to come together, exchange ideas, inspire each other and build their futures through recreational activities. They now have a place where they can be themselves, freely develop their skills together with like-minded people and reach their true potential. Hence the name Freedom Skate Park."
Established in 2012 by Jefferson Osei, Abderrahmane Trabsini, and Hussein Suleiman, Daily Paper is an Amsterdam-based fashion and lifestyle brand with a fondness for fusing African heritage aesthetics with contemporary designs. What started out as a lifestyle blog through a shared passion for music, art, and culture, has grown and amplified into an internationally recognized clothing label. Daily Paper has become one of the fastest-growing fashion brands out of Europe. With their common African background, the trio resorts to traditional prints and fabrics on the styles. Focusing on both men and womenswear, Daily Paper releases two main collections each year containing a range of ready-to-wear garments, fine-tailored pieces and accessories among other capsule collections across seasons.
A New Sport Ecosystem
The initiative of a skatepark has been nurtured by Surf Ghana since its start in 2016. Its core mission has been to offer easy access to board sports for youth across Ghana, but because of the sport’s relatively recent popularity in the country, Ghana has not had the infrastructure necessary for a functioning skate community to fully thrive — now it finally will. Presently, the ever-growing community of active skateboarders has created an ecosystem that supports well-being, creativity, and entrepreneurship that is all 100% Made in Ghana.
The multifaceted space will also function as a training ground for Ghana’s possible inclusion in the skateboarding category of the 2021 Olympic Games. Finally, the park will solidify the growth of board sports in Ghana and help the youth participate in creative activities that build confidence, self-esteem, and provide a valuable platform for self-expression.
Beyond the Return Pop-Up
With the overwhelming success of the 2019 pop-up store, Daily Paper will return to the capital of Ghana in December 2020 — hosting a celebration of the Beyond the Return initiative with a 2 week pop-up and creative space for their community. A continuation of last year’s activities, Daily Paper will host a full house of local talent, students, creatives and tourists, through panel talks and events next to seeing a return of the football tournament from last year on the pitch built with Puma back in 2017. Another highlight is the premiering of a limited edition Daily Paper and Off-White™ designed Tony Chocolonely chocolate bar that will be gifted in the pop-up for the first visitors.
Image credits: Arinzechukwu Patrick