2ManySiblings: Velma Rossa, Oliver Asike and Nairobi’s Creative Style Culture
2ManySiblings turned a shared interest in clothes into a platform connecting style, photography and Nairobi’s creative community. The brother-and-sister duo, Velma Rossa and Oliver Asike, also known as Papa Petit, became recognised through images that placed their own clothes in conversation with the city around them. Their work developed into collaborations, curatorial projects and the Thrift Social event concept.
For readers exploring Kenyan fashion, their story is useful because it begins with how people actually wear things. A look can combine vintage clothing, a local designer’s work and a familiar everyday object. Its character comes from the relationship between those elements and the person making the choices.
A project about living in clothes
In a 2014 OkayAfrica interview, Rossa described the project as a way to document the siblings’ clothes and their lives within them. It developed into collaboration with African photographers, who could bring different visual approaches to the same two subjects.
Asike framed fashion as a form of personal expression. The interview presents a practice interested in mixing clothing sources and in developing local creative conversations, rather than measuring every look against a distant fashion capital.
This gives the project a clear point of view. The siblings are both subjects and participants in making an image. Their clothes are part of the story, but so are the setting, the photographer’s perspective and the way the pair occupy the frame.
Photography as a collaborative space
A collaboration allows a familiar personal style to be seen differently. One photographer may emphasise colour and the surrounding street; another may concentrate on silhouette or the relationship between the two figures. The resulting images can remain recognisably connected without repeating the same visual formula.
That is a useful way to understand the photographs associated with 2ManySiblings. They are more than records of individual purchases. They show how clothing can become material for a shared creative process, with the wearers and image-maker each contributing a point of view.
The portrait accompanying this article was made by Sarah Waiswa and published in Nataal’s Fashion Cities Africa feature. It shows the actual siblings in a street setting, making the relationship between personal presentation and everyday surroundings immediately visible.
Fashion Cities Africa and a museum encounter
Nataal’s interview, published around the opening of Fashion Cities Africa in 2016, documents the duo’s contribution to Brighton Museum & Art Gallery’s exhibition. It describes a commissioned photographic project and plans to bring their Thrift Social concept to Brighton.
The interview also records an Ichyulu campaign collaboration with photographer Migwa Nthigah. The siblings spoke about supporting African fashion and working with other creatives, presenting the project as an evolving platform rather than a fixed personal-style diary.
A museum setting changes the conversation around an outfit. Clothing normally encountered in the street or online becomes something an audience can consider in relation to place, creative networks and history. The wearer helps explain what the objects mean in use, rather than leaving them to speak only through a display label.
Thrift Social beyond the photograph
Brighton Museums’ own account of its Fashion Cities Africa events records the siblings hosting a UK Thrift Social in June 2016. The programme included clothes swapping, upcycling, fabric printing, music and opportunities to talk about art and style.
The account also documents a public conversation with the duo. This gives a concrete picture of the concept as more than a sale: it created a setting in which clothing, making and social exchange could happen together.
Such events are relevant to the development of a fashion community. People can discover another person’s work, test an idea or meet someone whose skills complement their own. The outfit becomes an introduction, while the gathering creates room for a longer conversation.
Future Trends Portal
The British Council’s project archive identifies 2ManySiblings as curators of the Future Trends Portal, a collaboration involving Pidgin Perfect, The Africa Centre and ZCAC Addis. It describes an exchange connecting artists and designers in the UK and East Africa.
The proposed physical and virtual space brought fashion, design and styling into a programme of installation, screening and discussion. Sustainable practices and traditional craft were among its stated interests. The archive records the project receiving a New Art New Audiences grant.
That curatorial role extends the siblings’ practice from presenting their own looks to shaping an encounter with other people’s ideas. Choosing what to bring together, how to introduce it and what questions to ask is another way of contributing to fashion culture.
A Made in Kenya collaboration in 2018
ASOS’s official April 2018 announcement names 2ManySiblings among the guest collaborators for its Made in Kenya spring/summer collection. The release describes a unisex range produced with SOKO Kenya in Rukinga and also identifies Julie Adenuga and Leomie Anderson as collaborators.
This is a specific historical design collaboration, distinct from the duo’s event and photographic work. It shows how a personal visual language can move into a product setting, where ideas must also be translated into patterns, materials and production.
The different projects reveal several routes into fashion: wearing and documenting clothes, connecting a community, curating a cultural exchange and contributing to a collection. They do not require every creative person to follow the same professional path.
Looking at Nairobi style with more attention
The most useful lesson is to notice how an outfit relates to the person and the setting. A vintage piece may gain new energy through proportion or an unexpected accessory. A locally made item can sit naturally beside something already in a wardrobe. Personal style develops through those decisions, not simply through acquiring a complete new look.
Explore our Sunny Dolat profile and Brian Babu feature for other Kenyan approaches to fashion presentation.
Frequently asked questions
Who are 2ManySiblings?
The duo consists of Kenyan siblings Velma Rossa and Oliver Asike, also known as Papa Petit.
What is Thrift Social?
It is their event concept connecting clothing, creative activities, music and social exchange.
Did they collaborate with ASOS?
Yes. ASOS names them in its official Made in Kenya spring/summer 2018 announcement.
Explore accessories for your own combinations in Moyo Lane’s catalogue.
Sources and further reading
- https://www.okayafrica.com/kenyan-street-style-with-2manysiblings/215045
- https://nataal.com/2manysiblings
- https://brightonmuseums.org.uk/story_categories/legacy/page/55/
- https://www.britishcouncil.org/east-africa-arts/projects/nana/afro-futurist-portal
- https://www.asos.com/men/fashion-feed/2018_04_11-wed/about-made-in-kenya-ss18/