This July 18, Manifest, a pioneering digital platform built for short-term space discovery, will launch its inaugural live activation, Rooted, in partnership with global electric vehicle giant BYD. Moving away from traditional, fragmented market structures, Rooted is an immersive retail and design environment that brings 10 of Lagos’ most forward-thinking homegrown brands, including Obida, Refaini, NBDA, etc, face-to-face with a culturally tuned-in consumer base.
For one day, the aesthetic BYD showroom in Victoria Island will serve as a physical canvas. Ten intentionally chosen brands across fashion, beauty, and lifestyle will move beyond the standard internet feed to craft interactive physical worlds within sections of the space. Concurrently, BYD will run live electric vehicle test drives, turning the showroom into an open, kinetic hub of commerce, design, and movement.
“Manifest exists because brands need ground beneath them—a physical space where they become real, tangible, and trusted,” says Osayomon Obaseki-Ojogwu, Founder of Manifest. “A generation of Lagos brands has built massive, highly engaged communities entirely online. They are now reaching for a physical canvas that can carry their world, but the infrastructure to help them land simply didn’t exist in an organized form. Manifest is that infrastructure.”
The presence of BYD is a crucial narrative link. A global giant choosing Lagos and opening its doors to Nigerian creators mirrors Manifest’s exact thesis: a global icon planting its roots on the continent, while local brands find the physical ground to land on.
The doors to Rooted will be open from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Culturally tuned Lagos consumers, brand architects, and creative directors looking to discover what is possible when the right brands occupy the right space are invited into the room.
