During the late 1970s and 1980s, Chuka and Dubem Okonkwo became familiar faces in the streets of North London. The Nigerian-born identical twins, better known by their adopted names Chet and Joe, developed a distinctive public presence through their clothing, mannerisms and regular gatherings near Highbury and Islington station. Young people began visiting the brothers at a meeting place they called The Bar, where conversations about school, fashion, personal confidence and everyday life became part of the local routine.
Their unusual style attracted the attention of photographer Janette Beckman, who first met them in 1977 while teaching photography at a college in Clerkenwell. She photographed the brothers, and the image later appeared as a full-page feature in The Face magazine in 1980. The publication helped introduce the twins to a wider audience and preserved an important moment in the history of London’s youth and street-style culture.
Although they became associated with the Mod revival, the Islington Twins were more than fashion personalities. Their story involved Nigerian family roots, experiences of growing up in Britain, an unconventional approach to work and education, and the friendships they developed with young people from different backgrounds.
The Okonkwo Family and Their Nigerian Roots
Chuka and Dubem Okonkwo were born in London to Nigerian parents. Their father, Chuma Okonkwo, came from Onitsha in southeastern Nigeria. He worked as a broadcaster and had professional connections with the Nigerian literary and broadcasting world. Their mother, Teresa, also came from the Onitsha area.
The twins were born approximately 11 months after their older brother, Francis, who was born in 1961. They later became known by the names Chet and Joe. According to their account in a 2007 interview with The Guardian, the names came from characters in the Hardy Boys books. Chet chose his name from Chesterton Morton, while Dubem adopted Joe, after Joe Hardy.
Their childhood in London was not without difficulty. The Guardian profile recounts periods when the boys were separated from their mother and lived away from their family. They also experienced changes in their schooling and home circumstances before eventually returning to live with Teresa in Highbury.
Their experiences formed part of the background to their later personalities. The brothers developed strong interests in reading, conversation, clothing and the social world around them. They were particularly interested in traditional English clothing and the manners associated with the upper classes.
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Their Nigerian family background remained an important part of their identity. In a 2014 account published by the Horniman Museum, the twins spoke about their parents coming from Onitsha and reflected on the different ways people in Africa and Europe responded to meeting identical twins.
Discovering the Mod Revival
The Islington Twins became associated with the Mod revival, a youth culture influenced by the fashion, music and attitudes of the original Mods of the 1960s.
The movement placed considerable importance on appearance. Tailored trousers, neat jackets, distinctive hats, polished shoes and carefully coordinated clothing formed part of its visual identity. Music associated with ska and groups such as Madness and The Specials also influenced the scene.
The brothers developed an interest in the style after encountering young Mods in North London. In her 2007 interview with The Guardian, their account places this change around 1979, when they began imagining themselves in the clothes they admired.
They received a small college grant and used the money to buy clothing and accessories. Among their purchases were pork-pie hats, Crombie overcoats, Sta-Prest trousers and Frank Wright loafers. They also bought shoes from shops in East London.
The twins did not simply wear matching clothes for convenience. Their appearance was carefully considered, and they often dressed identically. Their clothing became a recognisable feature of their presence around Islington.
It is important to distinguish their Mod identity from the Rude Boy style associated with parts of the ska revival. Beckman later photographed them in clothing that she described as Rude Boy style, including Fred Perry shirts, loafers, Harrington jackets and black berets. However, the twins themselves described their involvement in the Mod revival. Their fashion history included influences from more than one style, rather than a single fixed identity.
Janette Beckman and the Photograph That Introduced Them to a Wider Audience
Photographer Janette Beckman played an important role in documenting the twins during the early stages of their public recognition.
Beckman has written about meeting Chuka and Dubem in 1977, when they were attending a college in Clerkenwell where she taught photography. She recalled seeing the brothers in the schoolyard, dressed in identical parkas, pork-pie hats, Sta-Prest trousers, loafers and sunglasses.
Their appearance caught her attention, and she asked to photograph them.
The photograph later appeared as a full-page feature in The Face magazine in 1980. This publication gave the twins greater visibility beyond their immediate neighbourhood and connected their image with the growing interest in British youth fashion and street photography.
The photograph also became part of Beckman’s wider documentation of British youth culture. Her work recorded the clothing and personalities of young people associated with different music and fashion scenes during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The Islington Twins were among the subjects whose appearance reflected the changing relationship between music, fashion and personal identity in Britain. Their carefully coordinated clothing made them visually distinctive, while their everyday presence in North London gave their image a recognisable local setting.
The Bar Outside Highbury and Islington Station
The twins became particularly well known for their regular gatherings near Highbury and Islington station.
Their meeting place was called The Bar, although it was not a pub, restaurant or commercial establishment. It was a yellow-and-black horizontal barrier used to prevent vehicles from entering a road near the station.
The brothers began meeting friends there, and the gathering gradually attracted a wider group of young people. According to the Guardian profile by Mary Mount, teenagers visited the location regularly, particularly in the mornings and evenings.
The Bar became a place for conversation and social interaction. Young people discussed school, friendships, fashion, ambitions and everyday experiences. The twins often encouraged those who were worried about examinations or lacked confidence.
Mount recalled that they helped nervous students feel more assured and encouraged young people to work hard at school. Their conversations could move from ordinary teenage matters to subjects such as philosophy, yoga, positive thinking and the British class system.
The gatherings were notable because they did not revolve around alcohol, commercial entertainment or a formal organisation. The attraction was the twins themselves and the conversations they created.
Over time, The Bar became a recognisable meeting point in the local community. The brothers’ regular presence and distinctive appearance helped turn an ordinary roadside barrier into a familiar part of North London’s youth culture.
Their Unusual Approach to Education and Working Life
The twins did not follow the conventional path expected of young adults in Britain. They were interested in education and intellectual discussion, but they also expressed reservations about the routine of full-time employment.
Their ambitions included attending Oxford University. They imagined a future associated with traditional English institutions, country houses and the social world they admired.
The Guardian profile records that they spent considerable time reading, discussing ideas and developing elaborate fantasies about their future lives. They also wrote children’s books and imagined producing a musical called Up at Oxford.
Their financial circumstances were modest. They earned money through paper rounds and occasional photography assignments, among other activities. They also sometimes worked as ushers at a cinema.
Their approach to life attracted both admiration and criticism. Some people found their confidence and eccentric manner entertaining, while others considered their behaviour unusual. Nevertheless, their regular visitors valued the attention and encouragement they received from the brothers.
The twins’ influence on young people was not based on wealth or formal authority. It developed through conversation, personal style and the relationships they maintained with those who gathered around them.
A Nigerian Identity in British Youth Culture
The story of Chuka and Dubem Okonkwo also offers a perspective on the experiences of Nigerians who grew up in Britain.
Their parents came from Onitsha, while the brothers developed their public identities in London. Their lives connected Nigerian family heritage with British education, fashion and popular culture.
The Horniman Museum explored this connection when it hosted the twins in 2014. The museum described them as familiar figures in Islington and noted their continuing interest in clothing and cultural objects.
During the visit, the brothers discussed the different reactions they received as identical twins. They explained that people they encountered in African communities often responded with blessings for them and their parents, while some Western visitors were more likely to express curiosity about the experience of being identical twins.
Their reflections provided a personal connection between the museum’s interest in twin figures and the cultural significance of twins in parts of Nigeria.
The twins’ Nigerian heritage was therefore not merely a biographical detail. It remained part of the way they understood their identity and the responses they received from different communities.
The Legacy of the Islington Twins
Chuka and Dubem Okonkwo became memorable figures in London’s youth culture through a combination of fashion, personality and social interaction.
Their photograph in The Face helped preserve their appearance during a period when British street style was developing through music, youth movements and changing ideas about clothing. Beckman’s photographs remain part of the visual record of that period.
Their story also survived through the recollections of people who visited The Bar. Mary Mount’s Guardian profile documented the atmosphere around the station and the relationships the twins developed with local teenagers.
The Horniman Museum’s later account showed that the brothers continued to be recognised for their distinctive style and Nigerian background decades after their rise to local prominence.
Their influence was not based on a music career, a major fashion business or celebrity status in the conventional sense. Instead, they became known through the everyday presence they maintained in their neighbourhood and the way their appearance and conversations attracted a following.
The Islington Twins demonstrate how cultural influence can develop outside formal entertainment industries. A photograph, a distinctive way of dressing and a regular meeting place helped two Nigerian-born brothers become lasting figures in the history of London’s street style.
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Conclusion
Chuka and Dubem Okonkwo, known as Chet and Joe, became prominent figures in North London’s youth culture during the late 1970s and 1980s. Their distinctive clothing and involvement in the Mod revival attracted the attention of photographer Janette Beckman, whose photograph of the brothers appeared in The Face in 1980.
Their regular gatherings at The Bar near Highbury and Islington station created a meeting point for teenagers who valued their advice, confidence and conversation. Their story also reflected the experiences of a Nigerian family whose children developed a distinctive cultural identity in Britain.
Through photography, journalism and later museum documentation, the Islington Twins remain part of the historical record of British street style and the wider story of Nigerian cultural presence in London.
Author’s Note
The story of the Islington Twins illustrates how Nigerian-born individuals contributed to British youth culture through fashion, photography and everyday community life.
References
Beckman, Janette. “The Islington Twins Style.” Archive of Attitude, 20 September 2011.
Crowley, Tom, and Johanna Zetterstrom-Sharp. “The Islington Twins and Ibeji.” Horniman Museum and Gardens, 28 November 2014.
Mount, Mary. “Gentlemen of the Bar.” The Guardian, 10 April 2007.
